Installing and using Tor in Ubuntu 10.04

[MarkW7]

This is a brief tutorial on how to install, set-up and run a Tor client in Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid):

Introduction

Recently i found that i needed to browse anonymously, therefore i needed to use a different IP address.

Tor or "The Onion Router" is a tool set used to help anonymise your traffic. Tor is used by a wide range of organisations and people that want to improve their safety and security on the Internet. Using Tor can help you anonymise your web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol.

Installing Tor

Firstly you will need to add the following repositories to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

Note: You will need to run all of the commands as root.

Switch to root

Code:

sudo su

Edit the file using nano

Code:

nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Browse to the bottom of the file in the terminal and add the following two lines, each on their own line.

Code:

deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org karmic main
deb-src http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org karmic main

Once you've done so press "ctrl+o", then press enter, then "ctrl+x" to exit out.

Adding the PGP keys for the new repositories and doing a update / upgrade.

Type the following in to the terminal. Each line separate, one after each other.

Code:

gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv 886DDD89

Code:

gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt-key add -

Code:

sudo apt-get update

Code:

sudo apt-get upgrade

Code:

sudo apt-get install tor tor-geoipdb

Installing Privoxy

Code:

sudo apt-get install privoxy

Configuring Privoxy

Edit the file "/etc/privoxy/config" using nano:

Code:

sudo nano /etc/privoxy/config

Add the following line (anywhere in the file is fine).

Code:

forward-socks4a / localhost:9050 .

Save the file by pressing (Ctrl+O), then press enter and then exit (Ctrl+X) to exit.

Starting Services and checking their status

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/tor start

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/privoxy start

Check that the service is running on port 9050

Code:

netstat -a | grep 9050

You should see the following output:

Code:

tcp 0 0 localhost:9050 *:* LISTEN

Installing Vidalia

Vidalia is a Graphical User Interface for Tor. Tor must be installed for Vidalia to work. Once you have installed Tor and Vidalia you can configure client and relay settings through Vidalia. To install, type the following command in a terminal:

Code:

sudo apt-get install vidalia

Once it's installed, you can access it from Applications > Internet in Ubuntu.


Configuring everything

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT:

Reboot (Your computer)

Once it has rebooted, type these in to the terminal;

Code:

sudo apt-get remove polipo

Code:

sudo update-rc.d -f tor remove

Code:

sudo update-rc.d -f polipo remove

Code:

sudo update-rc.d -f privoxy remove

Reboot

Using Tor

Once you boot back in to Ubuntu type this in to a terminal:

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/privoxy start

Then go in to Applications > Internet > Vidalia

Vidalia should open (It may be in the system tray, top right) and Tor should auto-connect.

NOTE:

Every time you want to use Tor, after you've rebooted simply type:

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/privoxy start

In to a terminal, then open up Vidalia - Then it works fine.


Anonymizing Applications

What's the use of having Tor and Privoxy setup without enabling your new anonymous proxy in your common web applications? At this time Tor only supports HTTP and HTTPS traffic, but still recommends using Tor in your browser's proxy settings for all protocols.

Using Tor in Firefox

You need to add the Torbutton Add-on:

1. Go to Tools > Add-ons
2. Select "Get add-ons" in the top menu
3. Type torbutton in the search bar then Press ENTER
4. Click the "Add to firefox" button
5. You will need to restart Firefox for the addon to take effect.

Once you've restarted Firefox, you should see "Tor Disabled" in red writing in the lower right hand corner of your browser. To enable Tor, simply click that writing - It should then turn green.

Note: Browsing through an anonymizing proxy will always slow down your connection

X-Chat

Settings-> Preferences -> Network -> Network setup -> Proxy server

Use the following settings:

Code:

Hostname: 127.0.0.1
Port: 9050
Type: Socks5

Note: A lot of IRC networks block the use of Tor, so if you're having trouble connecting - this may be the problem.

If you want to use other applications in conjunction with Tor then here's the information you'll need:

Code:

Hostname: 127.0.0.1
Port: 9050
Type: Socks5

Extra info:

Vidalia settings:

- Make sure "Start the Tor software when Vidalia starts" is ticked.

Under the advanced tab:

Address: 127.0.0.1 : 9051
Authentication: Password, Randomly generate (Tick)


The Majority of this tutorial was taken from the Ubuntu website, the rest is from my trouble shooting.

If you have any problem, please post or PM me, i'm more than happy to help.

Link to the Ubuntu tut:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Tor?ac...direct=TOR

I've also covered it and done the write up on my own forum:
You can find it here. (mcompute)

[mmki]

Ah this is good bro thanks

[MarkW7]

No probs, glad it's helped someone. It took me ages trouble shooting the last bit where you need to remove it from start up - otherwise it clashes :p

[haphazard]

Damn this was a very nice tutorial, but I hear Tor is weak, outdated and depreciated =((
and slow

But I still like, some encryption is better then nothing

[Zolesz]

This is a great tutorial, because Tor is a great program but not it is very outdated (as cyberphreak132 said) and I wouldn't use it, however I used to use it a lot. I have bough VPN for less than 5$/month and I don't have to configure programs to work with my VPN connection.

[MarkW7]

It has it's uses and it's free. I just use it on occasion to grab a different IP.

[Canoris]

It rhymes O.o.........

[MarkW7]

So it does, i think i'm just cool like that.

[aman]

Thanks for your post Markw7.
I am having a problem when i turn on tor in firefox "Tor Enable"
The message came.
Heading [JaveScript Application]

"The most recent Tor proxy test failed to use Tor.

Are you sure you want to enable anyway?

Note: if you have fixed the problem, you can rerun the test in the torbutton proxy preferences
window to eliminate this warning".

And if press okie tor is on but when i am going to this website https://check.torproject.org/
its say "Sorry you are not using tor.

Do you have any idea what is the problem ??

[Peter Chao]

Cool tut, add some pictures and more stuff. Hopefully, it will get sticky.