--- includes/_common.inc.original	2008-08-18 18:05:59.000000000 +0200
+++ includes/common.inc	2008-08-19 14:16:22.000000000 +0200
@@ -416,6 +416,9 @@ function drupal_access_denied() {
 function drupal_http_request($url, $headers = array(), $method = 'GET', $data = NULL, $retry = 3) {
   static $self_test = FALSE;
   $result = new stdClass();
+
+  $proxy_not_required = TRUE;
+
   // Try to clear the drupal_http_request_fails variable if it's set. We
   // can't tie this call to any error because there is no surefire way to
   // tell whether a request has failed, so we add the check to places where
@@ -449,7 +452,15 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $head
     case 'http':
       $port = isset($uri['port']) ? $uri['port'] : 80;
       $host = $uri['host'] . ($port != 80 ? ':'. $port : '');
-      $fp = @fsockopen($uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, 15);
+      $proxy_not_required = is_in_no_proxy_list($uri['host']);
+      if ((variable_get('proxy_server', '') != '') && (FALSE == $proxy_not_required)) {
+        $proxy_server = variable_get('proxy_server', '');
+        $proxy_port = variable_get('proxy_port', 8080);
+        $fp = @fsockopen($proxy_server, $proxy_port, $errno, $errstr, 15);
+      }
+      else {
+        $fp = @fsockopen($uri['host'], $port, $errno, $errstr, 15);
+      }
       break;
     case 'https':
       // Note: Only works for PHP 4.3 compiled with OpenSSL.
@@ -472,9 +483,14 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $head
   }
 
   // Construct the path to act on.
-  $path = isset($uri['path']) ? $uri['path'] : '/';
-  if (isset($uri['query'])) {
-    $path .= '?'. $uri['query'];
+  if ((variable_get('proxy_server', '') != '') && (FALSE == $proxy_not_required)) {
+    $path = $url;
+  }
+  else {
+    $path = isset($uri['path']) ? $uri['path'] : '/';
+    if (isset($uri['query'])) {
+      $path .= '?'. $uri['query'];
+    }
   }
 
   // Create HTTP request.
@@ -492,6 +508,13 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $head
     $defaults['Authorization'] = 'Authorization: Basic '. base64_encode($uri['user'] . (!empty($uri['pass']) ? ":". $uri['pass'] : ''));
   }
 
+  if ((variable_get('proxy_username', '') != '') && (FALSE == $proxy_not_required)) {
+    $username = variable_get('proxy_username', '');
+    $password = variable_get('proxy_password', '');
+    $auth_string = base64_encode($username . ($password != '' ? ':'. $password : ''));
+    $defaults['Proxy-Authorization'] = 'Proxy-Authorization: Basic '. $auth_string ."\r\n";
+  }
+
   foreach ($headers as $header => $value) {
     $defaults[$header] = $header .': '. $value;
   }
@@ -569,6 +592,23 @@ function drupal_http_request($url, $head
   $result->code = $code;
   return $result;
 }
+
+function is_in_no_proxy_list($host) {
+  $rv = FALSE;
+  
+  $proxy_exceptions = variable_get('proxy_exceptions', '');
+  if (FALSE == empty($proxy_exceptions)) {
+    $patterns = explode(",",$proxy_exceptions);
+    foreach ($patterns as $pattern) {
+      $pattern = trim($pattern, " ");
+      if (strstr($host,$pattern)) {
+        $rv = TRUE;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return $rv;
+}
 /**
  * @} End of "HTTP handling".
  */
--- modules/system/_system.admin.inc.original	2008-08-18 18:06:15.000000000 +0200
+++ modules/system/system.admin.inc	2008-08-19 14:12:28.000000000 +0200
@@ -1363,6 +1363,77 @@ function system_clear_cache_submit(&$for
 }
 
 /**
+ * Form builder; Configure the site proxy settings.
+ *
+ * @ingroup forms
+ * @see system_settings_form()
+ */
+function system_proxy_settings() {
+
+  $form['forward_proxy'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'fieldset',
+    '#title' => t('Forward Proxy Settings'),
+    '#description' => t('The proxy server used when Drupal needs to connect to other sites on the Internet.'),
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_server'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy host name'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_server', ''),
+    '#description' => t('The host name of the proxy server, eg. localhost. If this is empty Drupal will connect directly to the internet.')
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_port'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy port number'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_port', 8080),
+    '#description' => t('The port number of the proxy server, eg. 8080'),
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_username'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy username'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_username', ''),
+    '#description' => t('The username used to authenticate with the proxy server.'),
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_password'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('Proxy password'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_password', ''),
+    '#description' => t('The password used to connect to the proxy server. This is kept as plain text.', '')
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_exceptions'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'textfield',
+    '#title' => t('No proxy for'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_exceptions', 'localhost'),
+    '#description' => t('Example: .example.com,localhost,192.168.1.2', '')
+  );
+  $form['forward_proxy']['proxy_skip_selftest'] = array(
+    '#type' => 'checkbox',
+    '#title' => t('Skip HTTP self test'),
+    '#description' => t('Skip HTTP request self test.'),
+    '#default_value' => variable_get('proxy_skip_selftest', '0'),
+  );
+  $form['#validate'][] = 'system_proxy_settings_validate';
+
+  return system_settings_form($form);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Validate the submitted proxy form.
+ */
+function system_proxy_settings_validate($form, &$form_state) {
+  // Validate the proxy settings
+  $form_state['values']['proxy_server'] = trim($form_state['values']['proxy_server']);
+  if ($form_state['values']['proxy_server'] != '') {
+    // TCP allows the port to be between 0 and 65536 inclusive
+    if (!is_numeric($form_state['values']['proxy_port'])) {
+      form_set_error('proxy_port', t('The proxy port is invalid. It must be a number between 0 and 65535.'));
+    }
+    elseif ($form_state['values']['proxy_port'] < 0 || $form_state['values']['proxy_port'] >= 65536) {
+      form_set_error('proxy_port', t('The proxy port is invalid. It must be between 0 and 65535.'));
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+/**
  * Form builder; Configure the site file handling.
  *
  * @ingroup forms
--- modules/system/_system.module.original	2008-08-18 18:06:20.000000000 +0200
+++ modules/system/system.module	2008-08-19 14:13:52.000000000 +0200
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ function system_help($path, $arg) {
       $output .= '<li>'. t('support for enabling and disabling <a href="@themes">themes</a>, which determine the design and presentation of your site. Drupal comes packaged with several core themes and additional contributed themes are available at the <a href="@drupal-themes">Drupal.org theme page</a>.', array('@themes' => url('admin/build/themes'), '@drupal-themes' => 'http://drupal.org/project/themes')) .'</li>';
       $output .= '<li>'. t('a robust <a href="@cache-settings">caching system</a> that allows the efficient re-use of previously-constructed web pages and web page components. Drupal stores the pages requested by anonymous users in a compressed format; depending on your site configuration and the amount of your web traffic tied to anonymous visitors, Drupal\'s caching system may significantly increase the speed of your site.', array('@cache-settings' => url('admin/settings/performance'))) .'</li>';
       $output .= '<li>'. t('a set of routine administrative operations that rely on a correctly-configured <a href="@cron">cron maintenance task</a> to run automatically. A number of other modules, including the feed aggregator, ping module and search also rely on <a href="@cron">cron maintenance tasks</a>. For more information, see the online handbook entry for <a href="@handbook">configuring cron jobs</a>.', array('@cron' => url('admin/reports/status'), '@handbook' => 'http://drupal.org/cron')) .'</li>';
-      $output .= '<li>'. t('basic configuration options for your site, including <a href="@date-settings">date and time settings</a>, <a href="@file-system">file system settings</a>, <a href="@clean-url">clean URL support</a>, <a href="@site-info">site name and other information</a>, and a <a href="@site-maintenance">site maintenance</a> function for taking your site temporarily off-line.', array('@date-settings' => url('admin/settings/date-time'), '@file-system' => url('admin/settings/file-system'), '@clean-url' => url('admin/settings/clean-urls'), '@site-info' => url('admin/settings/site-information'), '@site-maintenance' => url('admin/settings/site-maintenance'))) .'</li></ul>';
+      $output .= '<li>'. t('basic configuration options for your site, including <a href="@date-settings">date and time settings</a>, <a href="@file-system">file system settings</a>, <a href="@clean-url">clean URL support</a>, <a href="@proxy-server">proxy server settings</a>, <a href="@site-info">site name and other information</a>, and a <a href="@site-maintenance">site maintenance</a> function for taking your site temporarily off-line.', array('@date-settings' => url('admin/settings/date-time'), '@file-system' => url('admin/settings/file-system'), '@clean-url' => url('admin/settings/clean-urls'), '@proxy-server' => url('admin/settings/proxy'), '@site-info' => url('admin/settings/site-information'), '@site-maintenance' => url('admin/settings/site-maintenance'))) .'</li></ul>';
       $output .= '<p>'. t('For more information, see the online handbook entry for <a href="@system">System module</a>.', array('@system' => 'http://drupal.org/handbook/modules/system/')) .'</p>';
       return $output;
     case 'admin':
@@ -406,6 +406,14 @@ function system_menu() {
     'access arguments' => array('administer site configuration'),
     'file' => 'system.admin.inc',
   );
+  $items['admin/settings/proxy'] = array(
+    'title' => 'Proxy Server',
+    'description' => 'Configure settings when the site is behind a proxy server.',
+    'page callback' => 'drupal_get_form',
+    'page arguments' => array('system_proxy_settings'),
+    'access arguments' => array('administer site configuration'),
+    'file' => 'system.admin.inc',
+  );
   $items['admin/settings/file-system'] = array(
     'title' => 'File system',
     'description' => 'Tell Drupal where to store uploaded files and how they are accessed.',
@@ -1877,13 +1885,19 @@ function system_check_http_request() {
   // Check whether we can do any request at all. First get the results for
   // a very simple page which has access TRUE set via the menu system. Then,
   // try to drupal_http_request() the same page and compare.
-  ob_start();
-  $path = 'admin/reports/request-test';
-  menu_execute_active_handler($path);
-  $nothing = ob_get_contents();
-  ob_end_clean();
-  $result = drupal_http_request(url($path, array('absolute' => TRUE)));
-  $works = isset($result->data) && $result->data == $nothing;
+  $skip_selftest = variable_get('proxy_skip_selftest', '0');
+  if (0 == $skip_selftest) {
+    ob_start();
+    $path = 'admin/reports/request-test';
+    menu_execute_active_handler($path);
+    $nothing = ob_get_contents();
+    ob_end_clean();
+    $result = drupal_http_request(url($path, array('absolute' => TRUE)));
+    $works = isset($result->data) && $result->data == $nothing;
+  }
+  else {
+    $works = TRUE;
+  }
   variable_set('drupal_http_request_fails', !$works);
   return $works;
 }