<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp13e6adf8yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:16px;"><div><span style="color: rgb(38, 40, 42); font-size: 13px;">On Monday, January 17, 2022, 11:47:11 AM MST, David Fifield <david@bamsoftware.com> wrote:</span><br></div><div id="ydp13e6adf8yahoo_quoted_3344073069" class="ydp13e6adf8yahoo_quoted"><div style="font-family:'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#26282a;">
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<div><span>> Gary, I was wondering how you are dealing with the changing onion key issue, and I suppose it is [this](</span><a shape="rect" href="https://forum.torproject.net/t/tor-relays-how-to-reduce-tor-cpu-load-on-a-single-bridge/1483/13" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://forum.torproject.net/t/tor-relays-how-to-reduce-tor-cpu-load-on-a-single-bridge/1483/13</a><span>):</span><br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span>>> use Source IP Address Sticky Sessions (Pinning)</span><br clear="none"><br clear="none"><span>> The same client source address gets pinned to the same tor instance and therefore the same onion key. If I understand correctly, there's a potential failure if a client changes its IP address and later gets mapped to a different instance. Is that right?</span><br></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Yes... That is correct. As long as circuits originate from the same Source IP Address, Nginx/HAProxy ensures they are pinned to the same loadbalanced Upstream Tor Node; unless, the originating Source IP Address changes (low-risk) or one of the Upstream Tor Nodes goes down</span><span> </span><span>(low-risk with UPS)</span> and surviving circuits migrate to the remaining Upstream Tor Nodes, which effectively forces building of new circuits with relavent keys.</div><div><br></div><div>The issue I find more challenging, in loadbalancing Upstream Tor Nodes, is when the Medium-Term Key is updated after running for some time (it's consistent with the previously mentioned 4 - 5 week time period). It is at this point that I notice all circuits bleed-off from the Upstream Tor Nodes with the exception of the Tor Node where the Medium-Term Key was successfully updated. It's at this point that I am forced to shutdown all Upstream Tor Nodes, copy the .tordb containing the updated Medium-Term Key to the other Upstream Tor Nodes, and restart all Upstream Tor Nodes.</div><div><br></div><div>If there was a way for <span>a Family of </span><span>Tor Instances to share a</span><span> Medium-Term Key</span>, I believe that might solve the long-term issue of running a Loadbalanced Tor Relay.</div><div><br></div><div>As it stands... I can run my Loadbalanced Tor Relay for 4 - 5 weeks without any intervention.</div><div><br></div><div>Hope that answers your question.</div><div><br></div><div>Respectfully,</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Gary</div><div><div class="ydp13e6adf8signature" style="color: rgb(29, 34, 40); font-size: 16px;">—<br>This Message Originated by the Sun.<br>iBigBlue 63W Solar Array (~12 Hour Charge)<br>+ 2 x Charmast 26800mAh Power Banks<br>= iPhone XS Max 512GB (~2 Weeks Charged)</div></div>
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