Setting up Tor server for localhost

This note was created on 2020-02-11
This note was last edited on 2024-04-02

Tor is an open source implementation of second generation onion routing that provides free access to an anonymous proxy network. Its primary goal is to enable online anonymity[1] by protecting against traffic analysis attacks. By using Tor you can access a blocked websites and Darknet's .onion sites.

=== Installation ===
Tor server can be installed on most distros using its package manager. Here's how to install it on Ubuntu/Debian:
# apt install tor

=== Basic configuration ===
By default Tor use configuration file "/etc/tor/torrc". We are going to configure Tor server to work only with localhost.

Add/uncomment following options in configuration file:
~~~
SOCKSPort 9050
SOCKSPolicy accept 127.0.0.1
~~~

Enable and start the daemon:
# systemctl enable tor
# systemctl start tor

Now you're able to route traffic through Tor network via local port 9050 using SOCKS5 protocol.  

=== Configure to use only specific entry/exit node(s) ===
Add following options to configuration file:
~~~
EntryNodes {ca} StrictNodes1
ExitNodes {de} StrictNodes1
~~~
In the example above, Canadian nodes are used as entry and German as exit.

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[1] Please note, routing traffic through Tor doesn't make you anomymous. For this purpose you should use Tor Browser (https://www.torproject.org/download).