invoke-WebRequest and a proxy that refuses to die in Powershell 5.1

Question

I have a Windows Server 2019 instance that used to have a proxy server configured in its proxy setting but has since been disabled from Proxy Settings -> Proxy

If I run the powershell 5.1 command:

Invoke-WebRequest https://<LOCALURL>

then i'm still directed though the previously configured proxy and my request is denied. If I run the same command though powershell 7.2 then it works as expected.

I've made the following changes to try to rid any residual proxy configurations but nothing has worked.

Disabled MigrateProxy: hcu\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\internet settings\MigrateProxy: Changed from 1 to 0
netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie
netsh winhttp reset proxy
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" -Name ProxyEnable -Type DWord -Value 0
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" -Name ProxyServer -Type String -Value ""
Searched and combed for proxy values in the registry
Restarted numerous times

Where is powershell 5.1 still pulling the removed proxy configuration from??

Did you check internet explorer options ? It is usually where I go first when I have to deal with something like it (It is counter-intuitive but these settings affect the whole system and not IE specifically). The quick way to go there the run window (Win+R) then type inetcpl.cpl. From there go into the Connecitons tab and checik if there's anything configured present. — Sage Pourpre
– Sage Pourpre, Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 20:46
Thanks for the reply! Ran the command as instructed. The Proxy server settings are blank under: Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN settings. I tried this as both my regular user and as the Administrator. — Chris D.
– Chris D., Commented Mar 28, 2022 at 21:00

TheMadTechnician · Accepted Answer · 2022-03-28 22:29:18Z

1

You can make sure that you don't have anything in your DefaultConnectionSettings, which is a byte array and has to be parsed, but you can check that for the current user and local machine keys, and that may be causing you grief:

$KeyPath = '\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Connections'
$PropertyName = 'DefaultConnectionSettings'

$LMBytes = Get-ItemPropertyValue -Path "HKLM:$KeyPath" -Name $PropertyName
$LMProxyStringLength = $LMBytes[12]
If(!$LMProxyStringLength){Write-Host "No proxy set for Local Machine key"}else{
    $LMProxyString = ($LMBytes[16..(16+$LMBytes[12])]|%{[char]$_}) -join ''
    Write-Warning "Local Machine proxy set to $LMProxyString"
}

$CUBytes = Get-ItemPropertyValue -Path "HKCU:$KeyPath" -Name $PropertyName
$CUProxyStringLength = $CUBytes[12]
If(!$CUProxyStringLength){Write-Host "No proxy set for Current User key"}else{
    $CUProxyString = ($CUBytes[16..(16+$CUBytes[12])]|%{[char]$_}) -join ''
    Write-Warning "Local Machine proxy set to $CUProxyString"
}

answered Mar 28, 2022 at 22:29

TheMadTechnician

36.5k3 gold badges48 silver badges63 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Chris D. Over a year ago

Thank you for the response. I ran your script but it complained that there was no Property for "DefaultConnectionSettings" I then did a search in the registry for that string and the only hit was HKEY_USERS:\UUID\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\internetsettings\connections\ DefaultConnectionStrings had a null value.

TheMadTechnician Over a year ago

if it doesn't exist then it's never been set, which is just as good for your case.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

invoke-WebRequest and a proxy that refuses to die in Powershell 5.1

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

2 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related