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5) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Tor Project: Hidden Service Configuration Instructions" CHARSET="UTF-8"
6) <div id="content" class="clearfix">
7)   <div id="breadcrumbs">

8)     <a href="<page index>">Home &raquo; </a>

9)     <a href="<page docs/documentation>">Documentation &raquo; </a>
10)     <a href="<page docs/tor-hidden-service>">Tor Hidden Service</a>
11)   </div>
12)   <div id="maincol">

13)     <h1>Configuring Hidden Services for <a href="<page index>">Tor</a></h1>

14)     <hr>

15) 

16)     <p>Tor allows clients and relays to offer hidden services. That is,
17)     you can offer a web server, SSH server, etc., without revealing your
18)     IP address to its users. In fact, because you don't use any public address,
19)     you can run a hidden service from behind your firewall.
20)     </p>

21) 

22)     <p>

23)     This page describes the steps for setting up your own hidden service

24)     website. For the technical details of how the hidden service protocol

25)     works, see our <a href="<page docs/hidden-services>">hidden service
26)     protocol</a> page.

27)     </p>

28) 

29)     <hr>

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

32)     <br>

33) 

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

39) 

40)     <p>Windows users should follow the <a
41)     href="<page docs/tor-doc-windows>">Windows
42)     howto</a>, OS X users should follow the <a
43)     href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>">OS
44)     X howto</a>, and Linux/BSD/Unix users should follow the <a
45)     href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>">Unix howto</a>.
46)     </p>

47) 

48)     <hr>

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

51)     <br>

52) 

53)     <p>
54)     First, you need to set up a web server locally. Setting up a web

55)     server can be complex. We're not going to cover how to setup a web
56)     server here. If you get stuck or want to do more, find a friend who
57)     can help you. We recommend you install a new separate web server for

58)     your hidden service, since even if you already have one installed,

59)     you may be using it (or want to use it later) for a normal website.

60)     </p>

61) 

62)     <p>
63)     You need to configure your web server so it doesn't give away any
64)     information about you, your computer, or your location. Be sure to
65)     bind the web server only to localhost (if people could get to it
66)     directly, they could confirm that your computer is the one offering
67)     the hidden service). Be sure that its error messages don't list
68)     your hostname or other hints. Consider putting the web server in a
69)     sandbox or VM to limit the damage from code vulnerabilities.
70)     </p>
71) 

72)     <p>

73)     Once your web server is set up, make

74)     sure it works: open your browser and go to <a

75)     href="http://localhost:8080/">http://localhost:8080/</a>, where
76)     8080 is the webserver port you chose during setup (you can choose any
77)     port, 8080 is just an example). Then try putting a file in the main
78)     html directory, and make sure it shows up when you access the site.

79)     </p>

80) 

81)     <hr>

82)     <a id="two"></a>
83)     <h2><a class="anchor" href="#two">Step Two: Configure your hidden service</a></h2>

84)     <br>

85) 

86)     <p>Next, you need to configure your hidden service to point to your
87)     local web server.
88)     </p>

89) 
90)     <p>First, open your torrc file in your favorite text editor. (See
91)     <a href="<page docs/faq>#torrc">the torrc FAQ entry</a> to learn
92)     what this means.) Go to the middle section and look for the line</p>
93) 

94)     <pre>
95)     \############### This section is just for location-hidden services ###
96)     </pre>

97) 

98)     <p>
99)     This section of the file consists of groups of lines, each representing
100)     one hidden service. Right now they are all commented out (the lines
101)     start with #), so hidden services are disabled. Each group of lines
102)     consists of one <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line, and one or more
103)     <var>HiddenServicePort</var> lines:</p>
104)     <ul>
105)     <li><var>HiddenServiceDir</var> is a directory where Tor will store information
106)     about that hidden service.  In particular, Tor will create a file here named
107)     <var>hostname</var> which will tell you the onion URL.  You don't need to
108)     add any files to this directory. Make sure this is not the same directory
109)     as the hidserv directory you created when setting up thttpd, as your
110)     HiddenServiceDir contains secret information!</li>
111)     <li><var>HiddenServicePort</var> lets you specify a virtual port (that is, what
112)     port people accessing the hidden service will think they're using) and an
113)     IP address and port for redirecting connections to this virtual port.</li>
114)     </ul>

115) 

116)     <p>Add the following lines to your torrc:
117)     </p>

118) 

119)     <pre>
120)     HiddenServiceDir /Library/Tor/var/lib/tor/hidden_service/

121)     HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8080

122)     </pre>

123) 

124)     <p>You're going to want to change the <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line, so it points
125)     to an actual directory that is readable/writeable by the user that will
126)     be running Tor. The above line should work if you're using the OS X Tor
127)     package. On Unix, try "/home/username/hidden_service/" and fill in your own
128)     username in place of "username". On Windows you might pick:</p>
129)     <pre>

130)     HiddenServiceDir C:\Users\username\Documents\tor\hidden_service

131)     HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8080

132)     </pre>

133) 
134)     <p>Now save the torrc and restart your tor.</p>
135) 

136)     <p>If Tor starts up again, great. Otherwise, something is wrong. First look at
137)     your logfiles for hints. It will print some warnings or error messages. That
138)     should give you an idea what went wrong. Typically there are typos in the torrc

139)     or wrong directory permissions (See <a href="<page docs/faq>#Logs">the

140)     logging FAQ entry</a> if you don't know how to enable or find your
141)     log file.)
142)     </p>

143) 

144)     <p>When Tor starts, it will automatically create the <var>HiddenServiceDir</var>
145)     that you specified (if necessary), and it will create two files there.</p>

146) 

147)     <dl>
148)     <dt><var>private_key</var></dt>
149)     <dd>First, Tor will generate a new public/private keypair for your hidden
150)     service. It is written into a file called "private_key". Don't share this key
151)     with others -- if you do they will be able to impersonate your hidden
152)     service.</dd>
153)     <dt><var>hostname</var></dt>
154)     <dd>The other file Tor will create is called "hostname". This contains
155)     a short summary of your public key -- it will look something like
156)     <tt>duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion</tt>. This is the public name for your service,
157)     and you can tell it to people, publish it on websites, put it on business
158)     cards, etc.</dd>
159)     </dl>

160) 

161)     <p>If Tor runs as a different user than you, for example on
162)     OS X, Debian, or Red Hat, then you may need to become root to be able
163)     to view these files.</p>

164) 

165)     <p>Now that you've restarted Tor, it is busy picking introduction points
166)     in the Tor network, and generating a <em>hidden service
167)     descriptor</em>. This is a signed list of introduction points along with
168)     the service's full public key. It anonymously publishes this descriptor
169)     to the directory servers, and other people anonymously fetch it from the
170)     directory servers when they're trying to access your service.
171)     </p>

172) 

173)     <p>Try it now: paste the contents of the hostname file into your web
174)     browser. If it works, you'll get the html page you set up in step one.
175)     If it doesn't work, look in your logs for some hints, and keep playing
176)     with it until it works.
177)     </p>

178) 

179)     <hr>

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

182)     <br>

183) 

184)     <p>If you plan to keep your service available for a long time, you might
185)     want to make a backup copy of the <var>private_key</var> file somewhere.
186)     </p>

187) 

188)     <p>If you want to forward multiple virtual ports for a single hidden
189)     service, just add more <var>HiddenServicePort</var> lines.
190)     If you want to run multiple hidden services from the same Tor
191)     client, just add another <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line. All the following
192)     <var>HiddenServicePort</var> lines refer to this <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line, until
193)     you add another <var>HiddenServiceDir</var> line:
194)     </p>

195) 

196)     <pre>
197)     HiddenServiceDir /usr/local/etc/tor/hidden_service/
198)     HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8080

199) 

200)     HiddenServiceDir /usr/local/etc/tor/other_hidden_service/
201)     HiddenServicePort 6667 127.0.0.1:6667
202)     HiddenServicePort 22 127.0.0.1:22
203)     </pre>

204) 

205)     <p>There are some anonymity issues you should keep in mind too:
206)     </p>
207)     <ul>
208)     <li>As mentioned above, be careful of letting your web server reveal
209)     identifying information about you, your computer, or your location.
210)     For example, readers can probably determine whether it's thttpd or
211)     Apache, and learn something about your operating system.</li>
212)     <li>If your computer isn't online all the time, your hidden service
213)     won't be either. This leaks information to an observant adversary.</li>

214)     <li>It is generally a better idea to host hidden services on a Tor client 
215)     rather than a Tor relay, since relay uptime and other properties are
216)     publicly visible.</li>

217)     <!-- increased risks over time -->
218)     </ul>

219) 

220)     <hr>

221)