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5) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Tor: Hidden Service Configuration Instructions" CHARSET="UTF-8"

6) 
7) <div class="center">
8) 
9) <div class="main-column">
10) 
11) <h1>Configuring Hidden Services for <a href="<page index>">Tor</a></h1>
12) <hr />
13) 

14) <p>Tor allows clients and relays to offer hidden services. That is,

15) you can offer a web server, SSH server, etc., without revealing your

16) IP address to its users. In fact, because you don't use any public address,

17) you can run a hidden service from behind your firewall.
18) </p>
19) 

20) <p>If you have Tor installed, you can see hidden services

21) in action by visiting <a href="http://duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion/">our

22) example hidden service</a>.

23) </p>
24) 
25) <p>This howto describes the steps for setting up your own hidden service

26) website. For the technical details of how the hidden service protocol
27) works, see our <a href="<page hidden-services>">hidden service protocol</a> page.

28) </p>
29) 
30) <hr />
31) <a id="zero"></a>

32) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#zero">Step Zero: Get Tor working</a></h2>

33) <br />
34) 

35) <p>Before you start, you need to make sure:</p>
36) <ol>
37) <li>Tor is up and running,</li>
38) <li>You actually set it up correctly.</li>
39) </ol>
40) 

41) 
42) <p>Windows users should follow the <a

43) href="<page docs/tor-doc-windows>">Windows

44) howto</a>, OS X users should follow the <a
45) href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>">OS
46) X howto</a>, and Linux/BSD/Unix users should follow the <a
47) href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>">Unix howto</a>.
48) </p>
49) 

50) <p>Once you've got Tor installed and configured,

51) you can see hidden services in action by following this link to <a

52) href="http://duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion/">our example hidden service</a>
53) or the <a
54) href="http://gaddbiwdftapglkq.onion/">Wikileaks hidden service</a>.

55) It will typically take 10-60 seconds to load
56) (or to decide that it is currently unreachable). If it fails
57) immediately and your browser pops up an alert saying that

58) "www.duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion could not be found, please check the name and

59) try again" then you haven't configured Tor correctly; see <a

60) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#ItDoesntWork">the

61) it-doesn't-work FAQ entry</a> for some help.

62) </p>
63) 
64) <hr />
65) <a id="one"></a>

66) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#one">Step One: Install a web server locally</a></h2>

67) <br />
68) 

69) <p>First, you need to set up a web server locally. Setting up a web
70) server can be tricky,
71) so we're just going to go over a few basics here. If you get stuck
72) or want to do more, find a friend who can help you. We recommend you
73) install a new separate web server for your hidden service, since even
74) if you already have one installed, you may be using it (or want to use
75) it later) for an actual website.
76) </p>
77) 
78) <p>If you're on Unix or OS X and you're comfortable with
79) the command-line, by far the best way to go is to install <a
80) href="http://www.acme.com/software/thttpd/">thttpd</a>. Just grab the
81) latest tarball, untar it (it will create its own directory), and run

82) <kbd>./configure &amp;&amp; make</kbd>. Then <kbd>mkdir hidserv; cd
83) hidserv</kbd>, and run
84) <kbd>../thttpd -p 5222 -h localhost</kbd>. It will give you back your prompt,

85) and now you're running a webserver on port 5222. You can put files to
86) serve in the hidserv directory.
87) </p>
88) 
89) <p>If you're on Windows, you might pick <a
90) href="http://savant.sourceforge.net/">Savant</a> or <a
91) href="http://httpd.apache.org/">Apache</a>, and be sure to configure it
92) to bind only to localhost. You should also figure out what port you're
93) listening on, because you'll use it below.
94) </p>
95) 
96) <p>(The reason we bind the web server only to localhost is to make
97) sure it isn't publically accessible. If people could get to it directly,
98) they could confirm that your computer is the one offering the hidden
99) service.)
100) </p>
101) 
102) <p>Once you've got your web server set up, make sure it works: open your
103) browser and go to <a
104) href="http://localhost:5222/">http://localhost:5222/</a>, where 5222 is
105) the port that you picked above. Then try putting a file in the main html
106) directory, and make sure it shows up when you access the site.
107) </p>
108) 
109) <hr />
110) <a id="two"></a>
111) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#two">Step Two: Configure your hidden service</a></h2>
112) <br />
113) 
114) <p>Next, you need to configure your hidden service to point to your
115) local web server.

116) </p>
117) 
118) <p>First, open your torrc file in your favorite text editor. (See <a

119) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#torrc">the

120) torrc FAQ entry</a> to learn what this means.) Go to the middle section and

121) look for the line</p>
122) 
123) <pre>

124) \############### This section is just for location-hidden services ###

125) </pre>
126) 
127) <p>
128) This section of the file consists of groups of lines, each representing
129) one hidden service. Right now they are all commented out (the lines
130) start with #), so hidden services are disabled. Each group of lines

131) consists of one <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line, and one or more
132) <var>HiddenServicePort</var> lines:</p>

133) <ul>

134) <li><var>HiddenServiceDir</var> is a directory where Tor will store information

135) about that hidden service.  In particular, Tor will create a file here named

136) <var>hostname</var> which will tell you the onion URL.  You don't need to add any

137) files to this directory.</li>

138) <li><var>HiddenServicePort</var> lets you specify a virtual port (that is, what

139) port people accessing the hidden service will think they're using) and an
140) IP address and port for redirecting connections to this virtual port.</li>
141) </ul>
142) 

143) <p>Add the following lines to your torrc:

144) </p>
145) 
146) <pre>
147) HiddenServiceDir /Library/Tor/var/lib/tor/hidden_service/

148) HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:5222

149) </pre>
150) 

151) <p>You're going to want to change the <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line, so it points

152) to an actual directory that is readable/writeable by the user that will
153) be running Tor. The above line should work if you're using the OS X Tor
154) package. On Unix, try "/home/username/hidserv/" and fill in your own
155) username in place of "username". On Windows you might pick:</p>
156) <pre>

157) HiddenServiceDir C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\hidden_service\\

158) HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:5222

159) </pre>
160) 
161) <p>Now save the torrc, shut down

162) your Tor, and then start it again.

163) </p>
164) 

165) <p>If Tor starts up again, great. Otherwise, something is wrong. First look at
166) your logfiles for hints. It will print some warnings or error messages. That
167) should give you an idea what went wrong. Typically there are typos in the torrc
168) or wrong directory permissions (See <a

169) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#Logs">the

170) logging FAQ entry</a> if you don't know how to enable or find your
171) log file.)

172) </p>
173) 

174) <p>When Tor starts, it will automatically create the <var>HiddenServiceDir</var>
175) that you specified (if necessary), and it will create two files there.</p>
176) 
177) <dl>
178) <dt><var>private_key</var></dt>
179) <dd>First, Tor will generate a new public/private keypair for your hidden
180) service. It is written into a file called "private_key". Don't share this key
181) with others -- if you do they will be able to impersonate your hidden
182) service.</dd>

183) <dt><var>hostname</var></dt>

184) <dd>The other file Tor will create is called "hostname". This contains

185) a short summary of your public key -- it will look something like

186) <tt>duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion</tt>. This is the public name for your service,

187) and you can tell it to people, publish it on websites, put it on business

188) cards, etc.</dd>

189) </dl>

190) 
191) <p>If Tor runs as a different user than you, for example on

192) OS X, Debian, or Red Hat, then you may need to become root to be able

193) to view these files.</p>

194) 
195) <p>Now that you've restarted Tor, it is busy picking introduction points

196) in the Tor network, and generating a <em>hidden service
197) descriptor</em>. This is a signed list of introduction points along with

198) the service's full public key. It anonymously publishes this descriptor
199) to the directory servers, and other people anonymously fetch it from the
200) directory servers when they're trying to access your service.
201) </p>
202) 
203) <p>Try it now: paste the contents of the hostname file into your web

204) browser. If it works, you'll get the html page you set up in step one.
205) If it doesn't work, look in your logs for some hints, and keep playing
206) with it until it works.

207) </p>
208) 
209) <hr />
210) <a id="three"></a>

211) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#three">Step Three: More advanced tips</a></h2>

212) <br />
213) 
214) <p>If you plan to keep your service available for a long time, you might

215) want to make a backup copy of the <var>private_key</var> file somewhere.

216) </p>
217) 
218) <p>We avoided recommending Apache above, a) because many people might
219) already be running it for a public web server on their computer, and b)
220) because it's big
221) and has lots of places where it might reveal your IP address or other
222) identifying information, for example in 404 pages. For people who need
223) more functionality, though, Apache may be the right answer. Can
224) somebody make us a checklist of ways to lock down your Apache when you're

225) using it as a hidden service? Savant probably has these problems too.

226) </p>
227) 
228) <p>If you want to forward multiple virtual ports for a single hidden

229) service, just add more <var>HiddenServicePort</var> lines.

230) If you want to run multiple hidden services from the same Tor

231) client, just add another <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line. All the following
232) <var>HiddenServicePort</var> lines refer to this <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line, until
233) you add another <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line:

234) </p>
235) 
236) <pre>
237) HiddenServiceDir /usr/local/etc/tor/hidden_service/
238) HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8080
239) 
240) HiddenServiceDir /usr/local/etc/tor/other_hidden_service/
241) HiddenServicePort 6667 127.0.0.1:6667
242) HiddenServicePort 22 127.0.0.1:22
243) </pre>
244) 
245) <p>There are some anonymity issues you should keep in mind too:
246) </p>
247) <ul>
248) <li>As mentioned above, be careful of letting your web server reveal
249) identifying information about you, your computer, or your location.
250) For example, readers can probably determine whether it's thttpd or
251) Apache, and learn something about your operating system.</li>
252) <li>If your computer isn't online all the time, your hidden service
253) won't be either. This leaks information to an observant adversary.</li>
254) <!-- increased risks over time -->
255) </ul>
256) 
257) <hr />
258) 
259) <p>If you have suggestions for improving this document, please <a

260) href="<page contact>">send them to us</a>. Thanks!</p>