Ubuntu – How to install Tor

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I tried to install Tor on my new version of Ubuntu, but it seems that Tor is not available in the repositories.

How else can I install and use Tor?

Best Answer

If you want to anonymously browse the internet using the Tor network

If by Tor, you mean a browser that uses the Tor network, please install and use the Tor Browser Bundle.

If you want to anonymously do other things using the Tor network

As of 2014-02-13, The Tor Project's Ubuntu installation page says:

"You'll need to set up our package repository before you can fetch Tor. First, you need to figure out the name of your distribution. A quick command to run is lsb_release -c or cat /etc/debian_version. If in doubt about your Debian version, check the Debian website. For Ubuntu, ask Wikipedia. Then add this line to your /etc/apt/sources.list file:

deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org <DISTRIBUTION> main

where you put the codename of your distribution (i.e. lenny, sid, saucy or whatever it is) in place of <DISTRIBUTION>.

Then add the gpg key used to sign the packages by running the following commands at your command prompt:

gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv 886DDD89
gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt-key add -

Now refresh your sources, running the following command (as root) at your command prompt:

apt-get update

If there are no errors you're good to continue.

We provide a Debian package to help you keep our signing key current. It is recommended you use it. Install it using:

apt-get install deb.torproject.org-keyring

To finally install Tor just run:

apt-get install tor

Now Tor is installed and running. Move on to step two of the "Tor on Linux/Unix" instructions.

The DNS name deb.torproject.org is actually a set of independent servers in a DNS round robin configuration. If you for some reason cannot access it you might try to use the name of one of its part instead. Try deb-master.torproject.org, mirror.netcologne.de or tor.mirror.youam.de."

Step Two of "Tor on Linux/Unix" instructions:

"For information on how to Torify other applications, check out the Torify HOWTO."

Note: This PPA hasn't been updated in YEARS already (since 2015) is several updates behind the official Tor Browser Bundle release.

Run the below commands to install tor browser in Ubuntu 13.10 64-bit version:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:upubuntu-com/tor64
sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/upubuntu-com-tor64-saucy.list

Change saucy to raring and save that file:
Update the repositories:
```
sudo apt-get update
```
Now you can install the Tor Browser Bundle:
```
sudo apt-get install tor-browser 
```

Ubuntu – Tor command is not starting Tor Browser

The Tor Browser bundle and the Tor Daemon are different beasts, and there's some confusion what does what. The fact that 'tor' isn't familiar to you means you should probably be looking into what different commands do before trying to alias things together. (For example, tor is an actual program - using that to call the Tor Browser is not the correct approach)

Tor Browser

Tor Browser is a software bundle which comes with its own Tor daemon that is launched by the "Start Tor Browser" script. This software bundle includes a fork of Firefox which is bundled with plugins that are specific to Tor Browser, to make it function effectively on the Tor network.

Tor Browser is only run usually with the ./start-tor-browser.desktop launcher, or the ./start-tor-browser shell script/function which executes everything that needs to run for Tor Browser to work.

This is its own software bundle, and is different than the standalone Tor daemon (which is tor).

tor aka "The Tor Daemon"

The Tor daemon can be launched and run on a system to connect it to the Tor network. It in turn operates on a SOCKS proxy over which you can send application traffic through to send over the Tor network. It is designed to run transparently and silently on the system, and does not execute any type of other programs - it only runs the daemon and the corresponding proxy which can be used to send data through.

It does not launch the Tor Browser as it is designed to run separately as its own daemon, and not to launch the Tor browser.

Best Answer

If you want to anonymously browse the internet using the Tor network

If you want to anonymously do other things using the Tor network

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to install the Tor Browser Bundle in Ubuntu

Note: This PPA hasn't been updated in YEARS already (since 2015) is several updates behind the official Tor Browser Bundle release.

Ubuntu – Tor command is not starting Tor Browser

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