This article explains how to configure HTTP/S proxy settings for Neo4j, particularly in scenarios where a proxy is necessary to facilitate communication with a Single Sign-On (SSO) provider. In cases where a proxy is required to enable communication with the SSO discovery URL, additional settings become essential for a successful integration.

Configuring Proxy Settings in Neo4j V4:

In Neo4j V4, proxy settings were managed within the dbms.jvm.additional section of the neo4j.conf file. An example configuration is as follows:

Configuring an HTTP proxy:

dbms.jvm.additional=-Dhttp.proxyHost=proxy_server_hostname
dbms.jvm.additional=-Dhttp.proxyPort=proxy_server_port

 

Configuring an HTTPS proxy: 

dbms.jvm.additional=-Dhttps.proxyHost=proxy_server_hostname
dbms.jvm.additional=-Dhttps.proxyPort=proxy_server_port

 

Configuring Proxy Settings in Neo4j V5:

In Neo4j V5, proxy settings were managed within the server.jvm.additional section of the neo4j.conf file. An example configuration is as follows:

Configuring an HTTP proxy:

server.jvm.additional=-Dhttp.proxyHost=proxy_server_hostname
server.jvm.additional=-Dhttp.proxyPort=proxy_server_port

Configuring an HTTPS proxy: 

server.jvm.additional=-Dhttps.proxyHost=proxy_server_hostname
server.jvm.additional=-Dhttps.proxyPort=proxy_server_port

Note that this configuration will not work if the proxy requires authentication. 

Configuring Proxy Settings on a Kubernetes environment

In a Kubernetes environment, the Neo4j Helm chart does not use a neo4j.conf file. Instead, the Neo4j configuration is set in the Helm deployment’s values.yaml file under the config object. All neo4j.conf settings are supported except for server.jvm.additional (or dbms.jvm.additional in V4).

Additional JVM settings can be set on the jvm object in the Helm deployment values.yaml file. More details about Neo4j configuration on Kubernetes can be found here.

Below is an example of Values.yaml JVM arguments configuration. Choose either HTTP or HTTPS :

jvm:
 additionalJvmArguments:
# HTTP
- "-Dhttp.proxyHost=yourProxyHost"
- "-Dhttp.proxyPort=yourProxyPort"
# HTTPS
#- "-Dhttps.proxyHost=yourProxyHost"
#- "-Dhttps.proxyPort=yourProxyPort"

 

Checking if the configuration changes took effect using listConfig():

After making adjustments, it's important to verify that the new proxy settings are correctly applied. Regardless of the deployment method, you can use the following Cypher queries:

Neo4j V4:

call dbms.listConfig() yield name,value where name = 'dbms.jvm.additional' 
return value

Neo4j V5:

SHOW SETTINGS
YIELD name, value
WHERE name = "server.jvm.additional"
RETURN value;

 OR 

call dbms.listConfig() yield name,value where name = 'server.jvm.additional' 
return value