Tor Relay Server on Docker

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A complete, efficient and secure Tor relay server Docker image based on Debian Jessie This docker image will update automatically each time the Debian Jessie base image is updated and build & install the latest current stable version of Tor server. It will run Tor as an unprivileged regular user, as recommended by torproject.org.

The Tor network relies on volunteers to donate bandwidth. The more people who run relays, the faster the Tor network will be. If you have at least 2 megabits/s for both upload and download, please help out Tor by configuring your Tor to be a relay too.

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.

• Tor prevents people from learning your location or browsing habits.
• Tor is for web browsers, instant messaging clients, and more.
• Tor is free and open source for Windows, Mac, Linux/Unix, and Android

Quickstart

This will run a Tor relay server with defaults and a randomized Nickname:

docker run -d --name=tor_relay_1 -p 9001:9001 --restart=always doudou34/tor-server

You can set a Nickname (only letters and numbers) and a Contact Email using environment variables:

docker run -d --name=tor_relay_1 -p 9001:9001 \
-e TOR_NICKNAME=Tor4docker -e CONTACT_EMAIL=tor4@example.org \
--restart=always doudou34/tor-server

Tor configuration

For more detailed customisation edit ./torrc on the host to the intended settings:

### /etc/torrc ###
# see /etc/torrc/torrc.default and https://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-manual.html.en

# Server's public IP Address (usually automatic)
#Address 10.10.10.10

# Port to advertise for incoming Tor connections.
# common ports are 9001, 443
ORPort 9001

# Mirror directory information for others (optional)
# common ports are 9030, 80
#DirPort 9030

# Run as a relay only (not as an exit node)
ExitPolicy reject *:*         # no exits allowed

# Set limits
#RelayBandwidthRate 1024 KB   # Throttle traffic to
#RelayBandwidthBurst 2048 KB  # But allow bursts up to
#MaxMemInQueues 512 MB        # Limit Memory usage to

# Run Tor as obfuscated bridge
#ServerTransportPlugin obfs3 exec /usr/bin/obfsproxy managed
#ServerTransportListenAddr obfs3  0.0.0.0:54444
#BridgeRelay 1

# Run Tor only as a server (no local applications)
SocksPort 0

# Run Tor as a regular user (do not change this)
User debian-tor
DataDirectory /var/lib/tor

# If no Nickname or ContactInfo is set, docker-entrypoint will use
# the environment variables to add Nickname/ContactInfo here
#Nickname Tor4                 # only use letters and numbers
#ContactInfo email@example.org

Run Tor with mounted torrc

Mount your customized torrc into the container. You can reuse the secret_id_key from a previous Tor server installation (docker cp tor_relay:/var/lib/tor/keys/secret_id_key ./) by mounting it, too, to continue with the same Fingerprint and ID.

docker run -d --name=tor_relay_1 -p 9001:9001 \
-v $PWD/torrc:/etc/tor/torrc \
-v $PWD/secret_id_key:/var/lib/tor/keys/secret_id_key \
--restart=always doudou34/tor-server

Check with docker logs tor_relay_1. If you see the message [notice] Self-testing indicates your ORPort is reachable from the outside. Excellent. Publishing server descriptor. at the bottom after quite a while, your server started successfully.

Run Tor using docker-compose.yml

Adapt this example docker-compose.yml with your settings:

relay:
  image: doudou34/tor-server
  restart: always
  ports:
    - "9001:9001"
    - "9030:9030"
  environment:
    ## set your Nickname here (only use letters and numbers)
    TOR_NICKNAME: Tor4
    ## an email address to contact you
    CONTACT_EMAIL: email@example.org

Start the Tor server

Start a new instance of the Tor relay server, show the current fingerprint and display the logs:

docker-compose up -d
docker exec tor_relay_1 cat /var/lib/tor/fingerprint
docker-compose logs

References

• https://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-relay-debian.html.en
• https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy-debian-instructions.html.en