PowerShell Proxy Setup: Step by Step

Both web cmdlets take the same three proxy parameters, so one pattern covers HTML pages and JSON APIs:

1. Put the password in an environment variable or a secret store, not in the script.
2. Build a credential from your ProxyField username and password.
3. Pass the gateway to -Proxy and the credential to -ProxyCredential.

$env:PROXY_USER = "<login>-country-us-city-new_york"   # location goes in the username
$env:PROXY_PASS = "<password>"                     # better: set it outside the script
$pass = ConvertTo-SecureString $env:PROXY_PASS -AsPlainText -Force
$cred = [pscredential]::new($env:PROXY_USER, $pass)

Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.ipify.org" -Proxy "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000" -ProxyCredential $cred
$page = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://example.com" -Proxy "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000" -ProxyCredential $cred
$page.StatusCode

The first command prints the exit IP, which should not be yours. Keep the scheme http:// in -Proxy even when the site is https://: PowerShell opens an encrypted tunnel through the gateway, and the site's TLS runs inside it.

Don't put the login into the proxy address: with -Proxy "http://<login>:<password>@gate.proxyfield.io:7000", PowerShell sends no credentials at all, and the proxy answers 407 (Proxy Authentication Required); only -ProxyCredential carries them. On a machine whose public IP is on your ProxyField allowlist, drop -ProxyCredential and use the port you set up in the dashboard instead of 7000 in -Proxy.

-ProxyUseDefaultCredentials sends your Windows sign-in to the proxy. It is meant for company proxies that check Windows accounts, not for a ProxyField username and password.

Typing -Proxy on every call gets old in a long script. PowerShell 7 gives you three ways to set it once, each for both cmdlets and for http:// and https:// sites.

Default parameter values apply only to the cmdlets you name:

$PSDefaultParameterValues["Invoke-WebRequest:Proxy"] = "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000"
$PSDefaultParameterValues["Invoke-WebRequest:ProxyCredential"] = $cred
$PSDefaultParameterValues["Invoke-RestMethod:Proxy"] = "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000"
$PSDefaultParameterValues["Invoke-RestMethod:ProxyCredential"] = $cred

The .NET default proxy covers everything in the session that uses .NET's HttpClient, including Install-PSResource:

$proxy = [System.Net.WebProxy]::new("http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000")
$proxy.Credentials = $cred.GetNetworkCredential()
[System.Net.Http.HttpClient]::DefaultProxy = $proxy

Environment variables are read by PowerShell 7 and by the programs it starts, such as curl.exe, Python and Git:

$env:HTTP_PROXY  = "http://<login>-country-us-city-new_york:<password>@gate.proxyfield.io:7000"
$env:HTTPS_PROXY = $env:HTTP_PROXY

Set them before the first web request of the session. .NET reads the variables once, at the first request, so variables set after a request in the same session are ignored until you open a new PowerShell window. Unlike -Proxy, the variables do carry the login inside the URL. To keep any of these settings in new windows, put the lines in your profile (notepad $PROFILE), with the password read from a secret store rather than written in the file. -NoProxy sends a single request directly when a session-wide proxy is set.

More on the variables themselves, and on set and setx in Command Prompt, is in command line proxy settings.

Windows PowerShell 5.1, the version built into Windows 10 and 11, takes the same -Proxy and -ProxyCredential parameters on Invoke-WebRequest and Invoke-RestMethod. What differs is the session-wide default: 5.1 is built on the .NET Framework, so you set [System.Net.WebRequest]::DefaultWebProxy instead of the HttpClient property:

$proxy = New-Object System.Net.WebProxy("http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000", $true)
$proxy.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential("<login>-country-us-city-new_york", $env:PROXY_PASS)
[System.Net.WebRequest]::DefaultWebProxy = $proxy
Invoke-RestMethod "https://api.ipify.org"

The $true keeps local addresses off the proxy. This line does nothing in PowerShell 7, which ignores DefaultWebProxy and connects directly. Two more 5.1 habits to know: curl there is an alias of Invoke-WebRequest, so type curl.exe for real curl, and 5.1 has no SOCKS5 option in its web cmdlets.

The proxy in Settings → Network & internet → Proxy lives in the registry for each user, so PowerShell can read and change it without the Settings window:

$key = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings"
Get-ItemProperty -Path $key | Select-Object ProxyEnable, ProxyServer, ProxyOverride   # what is set now
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name ProxyServer -Value "gate.proxyfield.io:7000"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name ProxyOverride -Value "localhost;127.0.0.1;<local>"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name ProxyEnable -Value 1 -Type DWord
# turn it off again
Set-ItemProperty -Path $key -Name ProxyEnable -Value 0 -Type DWord

Browsers and apps that use the Windows proxy pick up the change when they restart. The system proxy has no username or password field: with gate.proxyfield.io:7000, let the browser ask for the login; or add your PC's public IP to the allowlist in your ProxyField account and set ProxyServer to gate.proxyfield.io with the port you set up in the dashboard. Windows services such as Windows Update use a second proxy, WinHTTP, set with netsh in an elevated PowerShell window:

netsh winhttp set proxy proxy-server="gate.proxyfield.io:7000" bypass-list="<local>"
netsh winhttp import proxy source=ie      # or copy the user's proxy from Settings
netsh winhttp show proxy
netsh winhttp reset proxy                 # back to a direct connection

PowerShell 7 on Windows follows the user's system proxy when no proxy variable is set (Microsoft Learn: HttpClient.DefaultProxy), and Windows PowerShell 5.1 does the same through the .NET Framework. Neither reads the WinHTTP proxy. The Settings steps, with screenshots, are on Windows proxy setup.

PowerShell 7 runs on a .NET that speaks SOCKS5, so the web cmdlets take a socks5:// address:

Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.ipify.org" -Proxy "socks5://gate.proxyfield.io:7000" -ProxyCredential $cred

PowerShell 7 sends the credential with the SOCKS5 username and password method and passes the site's hostname to the proxy unresolved, so the DNS lookup happens at the proxy's end. As with HTTP, a login written into the socks5:// address is not used: PowerShell then fails with "SOCKS server did not return a suitable authentication method". For a whole session, set $env:ALL_PROXY = "socks5://<login>:<password>@gate.proxyfield.io:7000". SOCKS5 port: the same gate.proxyfield.io:7000 as HTTP and HTTPS. SOCKS5 login: yes, with the same username and password as HTTP.

Windows PowerShell 5.1 can't use SOCKS5 in its web cmdlets; run curl.exe --socks5-hostname gate.proxyfield.io:7000 -U "<login>:<password>" https://api.ipify.org instead, or install PowerShell 7 next to it. When SOCKS5 is worth it over HTTP is covered on SOCKS5 proxies.

Windows 10 and 11 include curl.exe. Call it with .exe, and it takes curl's own proxy options:

curl.exe -x http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000 -U "<login>-country-us-city-new_york:<password>" https://api.ipify.org

It also reads $env:HTTPS_PROXY if you set it in the same window. Every curl proxy option, with examples, is on cURL with a proxy.

The location goes in the username, as in <login>-country-us-city-new_york for a New York IP. Rotation gives a new IP on every request, so a loop gets a new address every time:

foreach ($i in 1..5) {
    Invoke-RestMethod -Uri "https://api.ipify.org" -Proxy "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000" -ProxyCredential $cred
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
}

You don't need a list of proxies to rotate through: one gateway address does it. When a script must keep one IP, for a login or a checkout flow, use a sticky session, which holds the IP for 30 s to 36 h (presets 1, 5, 10, 30 min, 1, 3, 6 h). Session syntax: -region-<region>, -session-<id> and -ttl-<seconds> (30 to 129,600 seconds, 20 minutes by default) after the location, as in <login>-country-us-region-new_york-city-new_york-session-he9f2qga-ttl-600. Targeting and session options are on targeting, and when to use which on sticky vs rotating proxies.

ProxyField runs unlimited concurrent threads, so ForEach-Object -Parallel in PowerShell 7 can send many requests at once through the same gateway; pass the credential into the block with $using:cred.

Install-Module and Find-Module (PowerShellGet 2.x) have their own -Proxy and -ProxyCredential parameters:

Install-Module -Name PSParseHTML -Proxy "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000" -ProxyCredential $cred

Install-PSResource, the newer installer in PowerShell 7, has no proxy parameter. It follows the session's default proxy, so set [System.Net.Http.HttpClient]::DefaultProxy or $env:HTTPS_PROXY as above first. If your company network already requires its own proxy for such downloads, use that one; a ProxyField proxy is for reaching sites from the IP and location you choose.

1. In PowerShell 7, run Invoke-RestMethod https://api.ipify.org once with the proxy and once with -NoProxy: the two IPs should differ.
2. Invoke-RestMethod https://ipinfo.io/json -Proxy "http://gate.proxyfield.io:7000" -ProxyCredential $cred shows the exit IP's city and country.
3. [System.Net.Http.HttpClient]::DefaultProxy.GetProxy("https://example.com") shows which proxy PowerShell 7 would use for a site, if any.
4. netsh winhttp show proxy shows the services' proxy, and the registry lines above show the user's.
5. To test a proxy line before you put it in a script, use the proxy checker.

PowerShell sends the login only after the proxy asks for it, so a 407 followed by a success in a proxy log is normal. Gateway error messages: 407 Proxy Authentication Required for a wrong login or password, an IP not on the allowlist or a malformed location, 402 Payment Required when no traffic is left and 502 Bad Gateway when no exit could be connected; a restricted site gets no separate response, and a 403 comes from the site itself. The 407 status is explained in 407 Proxy Authentication Required, and other codes in proxy errors. Our 24/7 live chat helps with setup and integration.

Web Scraping API: through Contact sales

Invoke-WebRequest returns the HTML the server sends and never runs a page's scripts; web scraping with Excel VBA and PowerShell shows how to parse that HTML and call a page's JSON instead. Use ProxyField for lawful work within our acceptable use policy, and respect each site's terms.

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