2.7 KiB
Private Tor Network on Docker
An isolated, private tor network running entirely in Docker containers
Quickstart
The easiest way to get a tor network up and running is to use the docker-compose scale function:
docker-compose scale da=3 relay=5 exit=3 client=1
Uses
If you're going "Why do I want this?" here's a few examples:
tor research: learn how tor interacts with nodes, make modifications to settings and see what happens, understand how the Tor Network operates without affecting real people. (Originally this project was part of a class I wrote to teach about how tor works)
tor development: in the case you're working on a patch that is more complex and requires seeing what happens on the tor network, you can apply the patches to the containers.
traffic analysis: Test out the latest tor exploit and pretend to be a nation state adversary.
Network Settings
All of the requisit information that other nodes need to know about on the network are stored in a mapped volume: ./tor:/tor. NOTE: This folder must exist on the host and allow the debian-tor user to create files in this directory.
Running Individual Roles
This is building a base tor relay container and then modifying it based on ROLE environment variable you give it. For example, this would make a directory authority (DA)
docker run -e ROLE=DA antitree/tor-private-server
Available roles right now are:
- DA - directory authority
- RELAY - non-exit relay
- EXIT - exit relay
- CLIENT - exposes the tor socks port on 9050 to the host
Tor configuration
This configuration is based on the Tor documentation for how to run a private tor network. You should also check out Chutney1 which does something similar with separate processes instead of containers.
Debugging
Here are a few things to try if you're runing into issues:
- Check the tor logs sent to stdout
docker logs -f torserver_da_1 - Check all the logs with
docker-compose logs - Enable verbose logging by changing the
./config/torrc - Check permissions for your ./tor folder
- Delete the files in your ./tor folder so you can start from scratch (or specifically the torrc.da file)
TODO
- Use an environment variable to choose which version of tor to compile
- Get rid of apt-get from docker container
Dislaimer
This project is in no way associated with the Tor Project or their developers. Like many people I'm a fan of Tor and recommend considering ways you can help the project. Consider running a relay, donating, or writing code.