tor-webwml.git

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2) # Revision: $Revision$
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4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Hidden Service Configuration Instructions"

5) 
6) <div class="center">
7) 
8) <div class="main-column">
9) 
10) <h1>Configuring Hidden Services for <a href="<page index>">Tor</a></h1>
11) <hr />
12) 
13) <p>Tor allows clients and servers to offer hidden services. That is,
14) you can offer a web server, SSH server, etc., without revealing your
15) IP to its users. In fact, because you don't use any public address,
16) you can run a hidden service from behind your firewall.
17) </p>
18) 
19) <p>If you have Tor and Privoxy installed, you can see hidden services
20) in action by visiting <a href="http://6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion/">the
21) hidden wiki</a>.
22) </p>
23) 
24) <p>This howto describes the steps for setting up your own hidden service
25) website.
26) </p>
27) 
28) <hr />
29) <a id="zero"></a>
30) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#zero">Step Zero: Get Tor and Privoxy working</a></h2>
31) <br />
32) 
33) <p>Before you start, you need to make sure 1) Tor is up and running,
34) 2) Privoxy is up and running, 3) Privoxy is configured to point
35) to Tor, and 4) You actually set it up correctly.</p>
36) 
37) <p>Windows users should follow the <a
38) href="<page docs/tor-doc-win32>">Windows
39) howto</a>, OS X users should follow the <a
40) href="<page docs/tor-doc-osx>">OS
41) X howto</a>, and Linux/BSD/Unix users should follow the <a
42) href="<page docs/tor-doc-unix>">Unix howto</a>.
43) </p>
44) 
45) <p>Once you've got Tor and Privoxy installed and configured,
46) you can see hidden services in action by following this link to <a
47) href="http://6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion/">the hidden wiki</a>.
48) It will typically take 10-60 seconds to load
49) (or to decide that it is currently unreachable). If it fails
50) immediately and your browser pops up an alert saying that
51) "www.6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion could not be found, please check the name and
52) try again" then you haven't configured Tor and Privoxy correctly; see <a
53) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#ItDoesntWork">this
54) FAQ entry</a> for some help.
55) </p>
56) 
57) <hr />
58) <a id="one"></a>
59) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#one">Step One: Configure an example hidden service</a></h2>
60) <br />
61) 
62) <p>In this step, you're going to configure a hidden service that points
63) to www.google.com. This way we can make sure you have this step
64) working before we start thinking about setting up a web server locally.
65) </p>
66) 
67) <p>First, open your torrc file in your favorite text editor. (See <a
68) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#torrc">this
69) FAQ entry</a> to learn what this means.) Go to the middle section and
70) look for the line</p>
71) 
72) <pre>

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

74) </pre>
75) 
76) <p>
77) This section of the file consists of groups of lines, each representing
78) one hidden service. Right now they are all commented out (the lines
79) start with #), so hidden services are disabled. Each group of lines
80) consists of one HiddenServiceDir line, and one or more HiddenServicePort
81) lines:</p>
82) <ul>
83) <li><b>HiddenServiceDir</b> is a directory where Tor will store information
84) about that hidden service.  In particular, Tor will create a file here named
85) <i>hostname</i> which will tell you the onion URL.  You don't need to add any
86) files to this directory.</li>
87) <li><b>HiddenServicePort</b> lets you specify a virtual port (that is, what
88) port people accessing the hidden service will think they're using) and an
89) IP address and port for redirecting connections to this virtual port.</li>
90) </ul>
91) 
92) <p>In this example, we're going to set up a hidden service that points to
93) Google. So add the following lines to your torrc:
94) </p>
95) 
96) <pre>
97) HiddenServiceDir /Library/Tor/var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
98) HiddenServicePort 80 www.google.com:80
99) </pre>
100) 
101) <p>You're going to want to change the HiddenServiceDir line, so it points
102) to an actual directory that is readable/writeable by the user that will
103) be running Tor. The above line should work if you're using the OS X Tor
104) package. On Unix, try "/home/username/hidserv/" and fill in your own
105) username in place of "username". On Windows you might pick:</p>
106) <pre>

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

108) HiddenServicePort 80 www.google.com:80
109) </pre>
110) 
111) <p>Now save the torrc, shut down
112) your Tor, and then start it again.  (See <a
113) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#Restarting">this
114) FAQ entry</a> for tips on restarting Tor.)
115) </p>
116) 
117) <p>If Tor starts up again, great. Otherwise, something is wrong. Look
118) at your torrc for obvious mistakes like typos. Then double-check
119) that the directory you picked is writeable by you. If it's still
120) not working, you should look at the Tor logs for hints. (See <a
121) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#Logs">this
122) FAQ entry</a> if you don't know how to enable or find your log file.)
123) </p>
124) 
125) <p>When Tor starts, it will automatically create the HiddenServiceDir
126) that you specified (if necessary), and it will create two files there.
127) First, it will generate a new
128) public/private keypair for your hidden service, and write it into a
129) file called "private_key". Don't share this key with others -- if you
130) do they will be able to impersonate your hidden service.
131) </p>
132) 
133) <p>The other file it will create is called "hostname". This contains
134) a short summary of your public key -- it will look something like
135) <tt>6sxoyfb3h2nvok2d.onion</tt>. This is the public name for your service,
136) and you can tell it to people, publish it on websites, put it on business
137) cards, etc. (If Tor runs as a different user than you, for example on
138) OS X, Debian, or Red Hat, then you may need to become root to be able
139) to view these files.)
140) </p>
141) 
142) <p>Now that you've restarted Tor, it is busy picking introduction points
143) in the Tor network, and generating what's called a "hidden service
144) descriptor", which is a signed list of introduction points along with
145) the service's full public key. It anonymously publishes this descriptor
146) to the directory servers, and other people anonymously fetch it from the
147) directory servers when they're trying to access your service.
148) </p>
149) 
150) <p>Try it now: paste the contents of the hostname file into your web
151) browser. If it works, you'll get the google frontpage, but the URL in your
152) browser's window will be your hidden service hostname. If it doesn't work,
153) look in your logs for some hints, and keep playing with it until it works.
154) </p>
155) 
156) <hr />
157) <a id="two"></a>
158) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#two">Step Two: Now install a web server locally</a></h2>
159) <br />
160) 
161) <p>Now that you have hidden services working on Tor, you need to
162) set up your web server locally. Setting up a web server is tricky,
163) so we're just going to go over a few basics here. If you get stuck
164) or want to do more, find a friend who can help you. We recommend you
165) install a new separate web server for your hidden service, since even
166) if you already have one installed, you may be using it (or want to use
167) it later) for an actual website.
168) </p>
169) 
170) <p>If you're on Unix or OS X and you're comfortable with
171) the command-line, by far the best way to go is to install <a
172) href="http://www.acme.com/software/thttpd/">thttpd</a>. Just grab the
173) latest tarball, untar it (it will create its own directory), and run
174) ./configure &amp;&amp; make. Then mkdir hidserv, cd hidserv, and run
175) "../thttpd -p 5222 -h localhost". It will give you back your prompt,
176) and now you're running a webserver on port 5222. You can put files to
177) serve in the hidserv directory.
178) </p>
179) 

180) <p>If you're on Windows, you might pick <a
181) href="http://savant.sourceforge.net/">Savant</a> or <a
182) href="http://httpd.apache.org/">Apache</a>, and be sure to configure it
183) to bind only to localhost. You should also figure out what port you're
184) listening on, because you'll use it below.

185) </p>
186) 
187) <p>(The reason we bind the web server only to localhost is to make
188) sure it isn't publically accessible. If people could get to it directly,
189) they could confirm that your computer is the one offering the hidden
190) service.)
191) </p>
192) 
193) <p>Once you've got your web server set up, make sure it works: open your
194) browser and go to <a

195) href="http://localhost:5222/">http://localhost:5222/</a>, where 5222 is
196) the port that you picked above. Then try putting a file in the main html
197) directory, and make sure it shows up when you access the site.

198) </p>
199) 
200) <hr />
201) <a id="three"></a>
202) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#three">Step Three: Connect your web server to your hidden service</a></h2>
203) <br />
204) 
205) <p>This part is very simple. Open up your torrc again, and change the
206) HiddenServicePort line from "www.google.com:80" to "localhost:5222".
207) Then <a
208) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#Restarting">restart
209) Tor</a>. Make sure that it's working by reloading your hidden
210) service hostname in your browser.
211) </p>
212) 
213) <hr />
214) <a id="four"></a>
215) <h2><a class="anchor" href="#four">Step Four: More advanced tips</a></h2>
216) <br />
217) 
218) <p>If you plan to keep your service available for a long time, you might
219) want to make a backup copy of the private_key file somewhere.
220) </p>
221) 
222) <p>We avoided recommending Apache above, a) because many people might
223) already be running it for a public web server on their computer, and b)
224) because it's big
225) and has lots of places where it might reveal your IP address or other
226) identifying information, for example in 404 pages. For people who need
227) more functionality, though, Apache may be the right answer. Can
228) somebody make us a checklist of ways to lock down your Apache when you're

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

230) </p>
231) 
232) <p>If you want to forward multiple virtual ports for a single hidden
233) service, just add more HiddenServicePort lines.
234) If you want to run multiple hidden services from the same Tor
235) client, just add another HiddenServiceDir line. All the following
236) HiddenServicePort lines refer to this HiddenServiceDir line, until
237) you add another HiddenServiceDir line:
238) </p>
239) 
240) <pre>
241) HiddenServiceDir /usr/local/etc/tor/hidden_service/
242) HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:8080
243) 
244) HiddenServiceDir /usr/local/etc/tor/other_hidden_service/
245) HiddenServicePort 6667 127.0.0.1:6667
246) HiddenServicePort 22 127.0.0.1:22
247) </pre>
248) 
249) <p>There are some anonymity issues you should keep in mind too:
250) </p>
251) <ul>
252) <li>As mentioned above, be careful of letting your web server reveal
253) identifying information about you, your computer, or your location.
254) For example, readers can probably determine whether it's thttpd or
255) Apache, and learn something about your operating system.</li>
256) <li>If your computer isn't online all the time, your hidden service
257) won't be either. This leaks information to an observant adversary.</li>
258) <!-- increased risks over time -->
259) </ul>
260) 
261) <hr />
262) 
263) <p>If you have suggestions for improving this document, please <a

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