How to Install Tor to Surf Anonymously in Ubuntu Feisty with Firefox

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This article explains how to set up Tor in Feisty based on my own experience (with Gnome interface). Tor is a program that allows one to surf through a local proxy with a routed IP address (so the webpage you surf does not have a record of your own IP address). I got it work in Firefox2, so this tutorial will mainly be for Firefox users (if you use Firefox 1.5 or under, you need to install Privoxy in addition to the two steps below).

Installing Tor in Ubuntu Feisty

We will be using apt-get command to install Tor. However, the Tor copy in Ubuntu universe didn't work for me. I had to use the one from noreply.org. To do so, do in the terminal

$ sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

After the file is opened, add these two lines to the end of the sources.list file:

deb     http://mirror.noreply.org/pub/tor feisty main
deb-src http://mirror.noreply.org/pub/tor feisty main

Save the file and exit gedit.

In the terminal, type:

$ sudo apt-get update

Read to see if apt-get tells you that you are missing a Pubkey for noreply.org. If so, you need to use gpg command to add the key to apt-get. In the terminal, do:

$ sudo gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net -- recv 94C09C7F

$ sudo gpg --fingerprint 94C09C7F

After you got the key, do:

$ sudo gpg --export 94C09C7F | sudo apt-key add -

Now you can do install through apt-get:

$ sudo apt-get update

$ sudo apt-get install tor

You should see a message showing that tor is starting.

SETTING UP FIREFOX

The easiest way to use Tor with Firefox is to use an extension/addon to manage the Tor proxy. Neither Torbutton nor Switch proxies recommended in other tutorials worked for me. However, I find that it is really easy to work with FoxyProxy. To install the addon, open your Firefox browser and go here:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2464

Follow the link to install the FoxyProxy addon.

Upon Firefox restarts, the addon will ask you some configuration questions and automatically make Tor work for you.

Now through the FoxyProxy option, you can specify which website to be visited with Tor proxy.

CHECKING IF ITS WORK

To see if your Tor is working, first visit this site without using FoxyProxy:
https://torcheck.xenobite.eu/.Note the IP address on the site.

Then, open FoxyProxy option, add this site as a whitelist in FoxyProxy (by editing the property of the Tor proxy in FoxyProxy), and then visit the site again:

https://torcheck.xenobite.eu/

The test may show a message saying that you are not using Tor, but you can ignore it. Look at the IP address being shown and see if it is different from your previous visit. If so, you are routing your address successfully.

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23 Responses

  1. peter coeshott says:

    well i tried and tried this, including using letter O and figure 0. Never got the key.

  2. RLringomei says:

    I remember there were times when the key add commands here did not work for me (and I got Pubkey not available message). Here is an alternative method:

    First, try to get the key again:

    $ sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net — recv 94C09C7F

    $ sudo gpg –fingerprint 94C09C7F

    Then, check to see if you actually got the key successfully:

    $ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F

    If you did get the key successfully, you would see the information of the key being displayed after you enter the command.

    Upon success, do

    $ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F > key.pgp
    $ sudo apt-get key add key.pgp

    Do this again to see if it works:

    $ sudo apt-get update

  3. RLringomei says:

    One more thing, note that the “-” in this should be two of them in both cases, i.e. “- -“. The auto format has messed it up above.

    $ gpg – -armor – -export

  4. Loyaleagle says:

    Will this slow down my browser?

  5. ezphilosophy says:

    First, I just copy/pasted the command to get the key. It gave me a “usage” note. Then, I noticed that there was a space between the double hyphen and “recv”. After changing that, I got the error —

    gpgkeys: key 94C09C7F not found on keyserver
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 2E skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 3A skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 5F skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 2E skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 2E skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 2D skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 3A skipped
    gpg: invalid radix64 character 3B skipped
    gpg: malformed CRC
    gpg: read_block: read error: invalid keyring
    gpg: Total number processed: 0

    What did I do wrong?

  6. Real American says:

    TOR WAS CREATED BY THE NSA AND US NAVY YOU MORONS!

    Tor is a spy project developed by the NSA and US Navy. It is not an anonymous system, and anyone who uses it is being data-mined by the monster big government called BUSH. WAKE UP YOU MORONS!

  7. defcon says:

    your the moron “Real American” Tor is open source, I would like you to find me the exact code at tor.eff.org that shows that the nsa and us navy is monitoring it, btw nsa is believable if they can crack AES encryption which is highly doubtfull, the us navy does not handle cybercrime, tor is made from the electronic frontier association, they are working to restore our rights and liberties as americans and people in this world. Check out http://www.eff.org to join the fight instead of being a ignorant moron like 75% of the worlds population.

  8. RLringomei says:

    Here is a place that one could find more reference. I suggest to cut and paste the sudo command there instead, because of the formating problem. For example, somehow there has been an unintentional space got added before “rec” in the original post.

    http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorOnDebian

    The package itself didn’t work for me without FoxyProxy, though.

    Second, regarding whether it will slow down your browser, the answer is yes (because of the routing). Hence one should use an extension (such as Foxy Proxy) to control which sites need it. For example, I use it when some sites I visit oversea censor certain contents of the site based on which country my IP address shows (or when I am oversea, some sites in my own country censor me out on certain things).

    I don’t know about the Tor GUI, but if it allows one to choose the country of the IP address, it would be even better (although I don’t usually comply things myself. – It would be nice if there is a debian).

  9. slonkak says:

    Your tutorial is incomplete if your end game was for anonymous browsing. There is a reason that Tor’s website says you should install a proxy such as Privoxy in addition to Tor. Things such as DNS requests and other things Tor’s site describes can leak out of the scope of Tor, thus exposing some of your traffic. In order to make sure all of your traffic (through those properly configured programs) is anonymous, you should install a proxy and have the proxy route it’s traffic through Tor.

    BTW, the reason TorButton didn’t work is because of what I just said. You forgot to install a proxy. TorButton points your browser to localhost:8118 (the port for Privoxy). The port for Tor is 9050 (where Privoxy should point to).

  10. Sqeekerz says:

    No joy:

    configure: Configuring vidalia 0.0.13…
    checking for g++… no
    checking for c++… no
    checking for gpp… no
    checking for aCC… no
    checking for CC… no
    checking for cxx… no
    checking for cc++… no
    checking for cl… no
    checking for FCC… no
    checking for KCC… no
    checking for RCC… no
    checking for xlC_r… no
    checking for xlC… no
    checking for C++ compiler default output file name… configure: error: C++ compiler cannot create executables
    See `config.log’ for more details.

    -Maybe a take down & replace with working guide?

  11. Drake says:

    W: GPG error: http://mirror.noreply.org feisty Release: The following signatures couldn’t be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY CFF71CB3AFA44BDD
    W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems
    E: Some index files failed to download, they have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
    [email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –export 94C09C7F | sudo apt-key add –
    gpg: WARNING: nothing exported
    gpg: no valid OpenPGP data found.

    I tried the other options.. now what?

  12. Lomax says:

    does not work at all

    its says gpg [options] [filename]

    after i type in the sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net — recv 94C09C7F
    even pasting the command does not work

  13. Joshua Welch says:

    Mine had a key error, but I continued with the instructions and it worked fine.

    I had to check with Tor enabled for all at whatismyipaddress.com, and then with the predefined values at the same site.

    Seems to slow me down a bit.

    Works though, and that is further than I got last time I tried.

  14. wsbsteven says:

    To Lomax:

    Remove the space between the — and recv

  15. deankart says:

    THE CORRECT WAY TO INSTALL THE TOR:

    To Get the key:

    $ sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net –recv 94C09C7F

    $ sudo gpg –fingerprint 94C09C7F

    Check to see if you got the key:

    $ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F

    If you did get the key successfully, you would see the information of the key being displayed after you enter the command.

    Next you have to export the key:

    $ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F > key.pgp
    $ sudo apt-key add key.pgp

    If nothing error appear,this mean that you got successfuly the key.

    Now,we need to install the tor:

    $ sudo apt-get install tor

    after finish this proccess you shoul continue read the article.

  16. deankart says:

    THE CORRECT WAY TO INSTALL THE TOR:

    To Get the key:

    $ sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net –recv 94C09C7F

    $ sudo gpg –fingerprint 94C09C7F

    Check to see if you got the key:

    $ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F

    If you did get the key successfully, you would see the information of the key being displayed after you enter the command.

    Next you have to export the key:

    $ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F > key.pgp
    $ sudo apt-key add key.pgp

    If nothing error appear,this mean that you got successfuly the key.

    Now,we need to install the tor:

    $ sudo apt-get install tor

    after finish this proccess you should continue read the article.

  17. deankart says:

    the — shoul be – -!!!:p

  18. Michael says:

    Terrible guide. The whole key deal doesn’t work.

    Deankart, I didn’t have any success with your guide either.

    [email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net — recv 94C09C7F
    usage: gpg [options] [filename]
    [email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –fingerprint 94C09C7F
    gpg: error reading key: public key not found
    micha[email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net –recv 94C09C7F
    usage: gpg [options] [filename]
    [email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –fingerprint 94C09C7F
    usage: gpg [options] [filename]
    [email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F
    usage: gpg [options] [filename]
    [email protected]:~$ sudo gpg –armor –export 94C09C7F > key.pgp
    usage: gpg [options] [filename]
    [email protected]:~$ sudo apt-key add key.pgp
    gpg: no valid OpenPGP data found.”

  19. Anonymous says:

    tor.eff.org now forwards to torproject.org. Search EFF site for tor and it’s all old information. whois torproject.org and it reveals some fake information. Has this project been compromised?

  20. anony1 says:

    see this is why i need to learn linux better

  21. Fedor says:

    Hello,

    Thank you for the good article, it helps me a lot.

    I had the same problem with the “sudo gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net — recv 94C09C7F”
    I manage this doing in two steps:
    sudo su
    and
    gpg –keyserver subkeys.pgp.net — recv 94C09C7F
    and logout to you user.

    I belive this happend for me because of the rights for “~/.gnupg/gpg.conf”.
    May be for someone it is helps.

  22. Tensigh says:

    It doesn’t work — at least the instructions for checking it don’t. There doesn’t appear to be a “whitelist” for FoxyProxy. I can’t figure out how to “whitelist” my own IP. Hmmmm…

  23. Steven P says:

    That’s ten minutes I’ll never get back …

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