Proxy Configuration | Solace Agent Mesh
Description: When deploying Agent Mesh in environments with restricted network access, you may need to configure proxy settings to enable communication with external services. This guide explains how to configure HTTPS proxy settings for Agent Mesh.

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# Proxy Configuration

When deploying Agent Mesh in environments with restricted network access, you may need to configure proxy settings to enable communication with external services. This guide explains how to configure HTTPS proxy settings for Agent Mesh.

## Environment Variables for Proxy Configuration​

Agent Mesh respects standard proxy environment variables that are commonly used across many applications:

Environment Variable | Description | Format | Example
--- | --- | --- | ---
`HTTPS_PROXY` | Specifies the proxy server for HTTPS requests | `protocol://[username:password@]host[:port]` | `http://proxy.example.com:8080` or `https://proxy.example.com:443`
`REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE` | Path to a custom CA certificate file or bundle used by requests and a number of other libraries. Use alongside SSL_CERT_FILE to maximize compatibility. | `Path to certificate` | `/path/to/certificate.crt`
`SSL_CERT_FILE` | Path to a custom CA certificate file or bundle used by requests and a number of other libraries. Use alongside REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE to maximize compatibility. | `Path to certificate` | `/path/to/certificate.crt`
`DISABLE_SSL_VERIFY` | When set to a true value disables SSL certificate validation for outgoing LLM requests. | boolean | `true`

These environment variables can be set at the system level or specifically for the Agent Mesh process.

## Proxy Configuration Details​

If DISABLE_SSL_VERIFY is true → TLS verification is disabled (applies globally). Else if REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE or SSL_CERT_FILE is set → the provided file is used as the trusted CA bundle for TLS validation. Recommendation: set both REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE and SSL_CERT_FILE to the same path to maximize compatibility, because different components/libraries may read one or the other. Else → the system's default/trusted CA bundle is used.

## Setting Proxy Environment Variables​

### Linux/macOS​

For temporary settings (current terminal session only):

    export HTTPS_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:8080"
    export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE="/path/to/certificate.pem"
    export SSL_CERT_FILE="$REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE"

For persistent settings, add these lines to your `~/.bashrc`, `~/.bash_profile`, or `~/.zshrc` file.

### Windows​

For temporary settings (current command prompt session only):

    set HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
    set REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE="/path/to/certificate.pem"
    set SSL_CERT_FILE="/path/to/certificate.pem"

### Docker​

When running Agent Mesh in Docker, you can set environment variables in your Docker run command:

    docker run --rm \
      -e HTTPS_PROXY="http://proxy.example.com:8080" \
      -e REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE="/etc/ssl/certs/custom-ca.pem" \
      -e SSL_CERT_FILE="/etc/ssl/certs/custom-ca.pem" \
      -v "$HOME/.mitmproxy/mitmproxy-ca.pem:/etc/ssl/certs/custom-ca.pem:ro" \
      solace/agent-mesh:latest

Or in your Docker Compose file:

    services:
      agent-mesh:
        image: solace/agent-mesh:latest
        environment:
          - HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
          - REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE=/etc/ssl/certs/custom-ca.pem
          - SSL_CERT_FILE=/etc/ssl/certs/custom-ca.pem
        volumes:
          - ./certs/mitmproxy-ca.pem:/etc/ssl/certs/custom-ca.pem:ro
    ....

### Kubernetes​

For Kubernetes deployments:

Ensure configmap:

    kubectl create configmap mitm-ca \
      --from-file=mitmproxy-ca.pem=./certs/mitmproxy-ca.pem \
      -n my-namespace

reference in deployment manifest:

    apiVersion: apps/v1
    kind: Deployment
    metadata:
      name: agent-mesh
      namespace: my-namespace
    spec:
      replicas: 1
      selector:
        matchLabels:
          app: agent-mesh
      template:
        metadata:
          labels:
            app: agent-mesh
        spec:
          containers:
            - name: agent-mesh
              image: solace/agent-mesh:latest
              env:
                - name: HTTPS_PROXY
                  value: "http://my-proxy.example.com:8080"
                - name: REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE
                  value: "/etc/ssl/certs/mitmproxy-ca.pem"
                - name: SSL_CERT_FILE
                  value: "/etc/ssl/certs/mitmproxy-ca.pem"
              volumeMounts:
                - name: mitm-ca
                  mountPath: /etc/ssl/certs/mitmproxy-ca.pem
                  subPath: mitmproxy-ca.pem
                  readOnly: true
          volumes:
            - name: mitm-ca
              configMap:
                name: mitm-ca
                items:
                  - key: mitmproxy-ca.pem
                    path: mitmproxy-ca.pem

## Certificate Bundle Merging​

In some environments, especially when using forward or corporate proxies, you may need to add your internal CA to the default certifi trust bundle used by Python. This ensures both public and internal certificates are trusted without disabling SSL verification.

    # Path to your custom CA certificate
    CUSTOM_CA=/path/to/custom-ca.pem

    # Locate the default certifi bundle
    CERTIFI_BUNDLE=$(python -m certifi)

    # Choose output path for the merged bundle
    MERGED_BUNDLE=/tmp/combined-ca.pem

    # Merge the two bundles
    cat "$CERTIFI_BUNDLE" "$CUSTOM_CA" > "$MERGED_BUNDLE"

    # Point Python SSL libraries to the merged file
    export REQUESTS_CA_BUNDLE="$MERGED_BUNDLE"
    export SSL_CERT_FILE="$MERGED_BUNDLE"

    # (Optional) verify
    python -c "import requests; print(requests.get('https://example.com').status_code)"

This augments the existing certifi CA bundle with your custom certificate while keeping the original file intact.