Setting up a private tor network

[Csaba Kiraly]

Hi Shreyas,

Sorry for the late response, I've seen your mail on the list only now.

I was also setting up my own Tor network based on the instructions in 
the FAQ, but I've been trying to reproduce it as a virtual network 
running a number of User Mode Linux
based virtual machines on one PC. It is available as a Netkit 
laboratory; I think it is quite easy to install and run, so if you want 
to experiment, let me know and I send it to you.

I have seen similar error and warning messages to what you have 
mentioned, both with 0.1.2.17 and with 0.2.0.8-alpha. Currently I'm 
trying to figure out what do I have to change
in the torrc files to make startup smooth. Anyway, after some time, you 
can set up circuits and run your connections through it. You can grab 
packets flowing in the network, see the
logs of each node, etc. You can also run copies of your application on 
each node (as long as you have a Linux version) .
Basically, you can do anything you would be able to do in a real 
network, but the whole thing is running on one PC.

After seeing PuppeTor I've realized that mine is quite similar to it in 
its goals, with the main differences being:
- mine has no java involved
- mine runs only on Linux
- each node is a separate (virtual) PC
- I suppose mine uses more resources (it uses about 20 MB per node, 
which is not too much anyway)
- I think it gives you lower level access to node configuration and to 
what is happening in the network ... at the price of restricting your 
experiments to Linux and giving up the convenience of Java
- of course PuppeTor is much more evolved, I've just started with this 
lab now

Let me know if you want to give it a try,
Csaba

> Hi,
>
>> I am using 0.1.2.17. I am planning to run an application over tor so 
>> i was
>> not sure puppetor will work. I think i will try using that.
>
> Then you might encounter problems with 0.1.2.17, because PuppeTor is
> configured to be used with the development versions. This is kind of a
> dilemma: Newer Tor version require certain configuration options to be
> used in a private setting which are not understood by older Tor
> versions. So, you will need to remove some configuration strings before
> being able to use PuppeTor with 0.1.2.17. Or use the trunk version. Or I
> could include a version check and select configurations appropriately --
> sometime.
>
> You could also use PuppeTor only to establish and initialize private
> network configurations, without performing actual test. Afterwards, you
> can re-use the working directories with their configuration files and
> state files and start the Tor processes on your own. Up to you.
>
>> My problem is
>> that the logs say that there is enough directory information but 
>> still it
>> does not try to make a circuit. I changed the code so that it builds
>> circuits all the time. But, it is like tor is not running at all. It is
>> supposed to make a circuit once it gets directory information but is not
>> doing so. Are there any reasons why it is not able to do so?
>
> Hard to say without your log files. From PuppeTor I know that newly
> configurated private Tor networks require multiple reloads before being
> stable. And this process also fails quite often.
>
> In general you should not have to change the Tor code to create a
> private Tor network. Maybe your changes are what prevents Tor from
> working properly?!
>
> Could you try whether PuppeTor is able to create a private network
> configuration for you -- with your changed and the unchanged Tor? If you
> have specific questions on PuppeTor, e.g. how to configure it for
> 0.1.2.17, you could also mail me off the list. And if this all fails,
> you could post a link to your info-level log files here.
>
> - --Karsten