Transparent Proxy with Squid - Setup Guide

I could not understand at step 3 "Configure (eg: ./configure --prefix=/opt/squid)".
Could you please explain clearly at this step? Thanks

What you've downloaded is the source code for the Squid proxy.
Due to the large number of systems it can run on, and the open-source nature of the program, Squid is distributed in source code form, letting anyone compile it for their own machine.

That said, each OS is different, and there's no way that the authors can predict every target system so the source is shipped with a script that customizes the build process for your machine - that's what the configure script does. You pass configure a list of specific customizations you want to make (e.g. where to install it), and it builds a custom make script with all the various elements. If you just run ./configure without any parameters it will use the default settings which may well be valid (or may not).

Ultimately (step 4 on your check list) you invoke make which takes that configure output and runs the compiler to compile the source code to your machine's configuration, ultimately (hopefully) building a runnable process for your machine.

Sorry!! what kind of tools can I use to pass "./configure"? Is it Terminal?

Yes, you can use Terminal.app, although you're also going to need to know some other basic command line tools such as cd to move around directories.

Can I put the whole folder under /etc/local/squid/ and then do "./configure"?

Typically not. You don't need the source code once the app is compiled and running. Typically people download the source somewhere temporary (e.g. /var/tmp) and compile it there. You've already seen the example of how to configure the build so that the final application is stored in a specific directory (--prefix=/usr/local/squid).

So you download to some temp dir, compile it with hints as to where you want to install it, install it at that location, then throw away the source (or keep it - your choice).

I don`t have C program for Mac OS Server 10.4.10 to compile the source code to machine`s configuration. Can I use other inbuild tools of Mac to compile the source code?

You have a complete development environment (including compilers) on your Install DVDs, or you can download a set from http://developer.apple.com/