[squid-users] Setting up squid for web application testing

Hi all

squid-2.6.18 HTTP Caching Proxy
FreeBSD squid01-test.jail.xx 7.0-RELEASE FreeBSD 7.0-RELEASE #0: Fri Mar
7 01:52:33 UTC 2008 root_at_xx:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/PE1950 amd64

I'm trying to set up a testing/development infrastructure to mimic the
production infrastructure. I have set up a squid proxy, which has local
definitions in /etc/hosts for the sites I wish to test - assigning them
all to a (singular) internal IP address. On this box, I have set up an
Apache 2.2 reverse proxy, which handles static files and binding in
application servers using http reverse proxy, FastCGI etc. To use the
test infrastructure, I can just change my browser's http proxy to this
new proxy, and it all works perfectly as expected.

This new proxy is unlike the regular http proxy, in that it isn't on the
edge of the network, it is internal. Therefore, it has no actual way of
contacting any site that is not part of the internal test
infrastructure. I was hoping I could chain this new proxy server with
our regular web proxy server, so that 'regular' websites are accessible
as well via the new proxy. I added
  cache_peer 10.xx.xx.xx parent 3128 3130 proxy-only default
but this didn't work either (the rest of the config is stock, but with
'http_access allow all').
I also couldn't see how I could say which sites/domains are 'local' to
this proxy server, and which should be fetched by asking the parent
proxy.

I'll continue to read on in the manual, and in the mailing list archive
(3000+ results for cache_peer!) but if anyone has any pointers/tips, I'd
be most appreciative.

Cheers

Tom