November 2021 - tor-relays - lists.torproject.org

Massive CPU load on high capacity guard node
by failing.flyaway443＠mailer.me 20 Nov '21

20 Nov '21

Hello Everybody, my relay is now almost two weeks old and has the following flags: Fast, Guard, Running, Stable, V2Dir, Valid. I lost the HSDir flag because I had to restart the Tor process, my downtime was just a few seconds, maybe that's why I kept the Guard flag. I was expecting a drop in traffic when I got the Guard flag (as mentioned in the FAQ), but the opposite happened. At the moment there are around 15000 active connections, over 11000 inbound and just 4000 outbound. I looked at the connections in Nyx, and it seems that my relay is indeed used as a Guard node (most of the IPs are "scrubbed" and the outgoing connections are to middle nodes). Before I got the Guard flag, I had around 5000 connections at the same time and was relaying traffic at peaks of 55MB/s. My server is connected to a Gigabit link. It's not a regular VPS, I have a dedicated CPU with two cores and dedicated 8GB RAM. Traffic is unlimited. The problem is that I'm now relaying traffic at ~25MB/s, and whenever there are spikes of over 30MB/s the CPU load on both cores (!) is very high. I'm still moving ~5TB per day, that's a lot, I know. But there would be even more possible with the internet connection of my server. My Server has two dedicated CPU cores of an AMD EPYC 7702, but unfortunately I only get the base frequency of 2GHz inside the VM, not the boost frequency of 3,35GHz (misleading information on the hoster's website). I could relay way more traffic if there wouldn't be this issue with the CPU load. This is the bottleneck, the 1Gbit link is guaranteed. I read in the FAQ that a modern CPU with hardware acceleration is able to relay traffic @~500Mbit in both directions. The EPYC 7702 supports AES-NI. I checked this, it is activated in my VM. I'm running Debian 11 Bullseye and tweaked the networking capabilities with some instructions I found from torservers.net (mnostly sysctl.conf tweaks) There is no additional software installed that uses lots of ressources, just a few tools. Here is a screenshot of Glances during a traffic peak (I set the Tor process to +10 on purpose): https://i.ibb.co/8brmZkf/glances.png The average CPU load is ~1.50, this is still ok for a dual core, but it should stay below 2.0 (at least it should not go above 2.0 for more than a few minutes). Does anyone here have an idea what I could do? Since the load on both cores is pretty high, I don't think it makes much sense to set up a second relay on the same server. Of course I could throttle the traffic, but is there anything else I can do? I rented this rather expensive server to help the Tor network with a really fast Guard node... Thank you everyone for your time and responses! Have a great weekend! Best Regards, Elias

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relayor v21.2.0-rc is released: prometheus exporter support
by nusenu 19 Nov '21

19 Nov '21

Hi, relayor v21.2.0-rc is released. relayor is an ansible role that helps you with running tor relays with minimal effort (automate everything). https://github.com/nusenu/ansible-relayor#main-benefits-for-a-tor-relay-ope… NOTE: This release contains a backwards incompatible change, if you upgrade from an older release please read the upgrade guide before upgrading. https://github.com/nusenu/ansible-relayor/wiki/Upgrade-Guide-from-version-2… This version of relayor uses MetricsPort (when enabled) via TCP on 127.0.0.1. This is less safe then using unix sockets because all processes on the system get access to tor's prometheus metrics since there is no authentication supported. When MetricsPort gets unix socket support, relayor will switch to that safer option. https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/core/tor/-/issues/40192 Changes since relayor v21.1.0: * major new features: * add support for tor's prometheus exporter (MetricsPort) * this is a relayor beta feature requiring tor >=0.4.7.2-alpha) #217 * generates prometheus scrape, nginx reverse and htpasswd config files on the control node for easy copy paste into your prometheus/nginx configuration * every tor instance gets an id label (IPv4_ORPort) * support arbitrary torrc options #192 * fix broken debian tag - reported by @jn9999 #224 * fix broken link - PR by @jn9999 #223 * README: * make clear that we do not remove previously managed tor instances on config change - reported by @tsekityam * update OfflineMasterKeys link * make apt update_cache configurable * drop support for Debian 9 * increase min. ansible version 2.9.23 -> 2.9.27 kind regards, nusenu -- https://nusenu.github.io

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Help Censored Users, Run a Tor Bridge
by gus 18 Nov '21

18 Nov '21

Hi everyone, We're launching a campaign to get more obfs4 bridges and help censored Tor users. The campaign will run from November 17 to January 7, 2022. You can read all the details below, including our special reward kits for participants: https://blog.torproject.org/run-a-bridge-campaign/ Join us and help censored users! Gus -- The Tor Project Community Team Lead

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Loss of Stable flag
by Arlen Yaroslav 16 Nov '21

16 Nov '21

Hello to all relay operators! My relay Deepsky (09A70E396DE93F54D4541BBB0EC8E2B23761F34F) has not been receiving the 'Stable' flag from the DA consensus. Up until recently (the past month or so) it had been assigned the full complement of flags. Nothing has been changed on the server and I am not aware of any issues. Would any of the directory authority operators be able to shed light on why some of the DAs are not assigning it the flag? Thanks!

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Compression bomb from dizum
by Logforme 15 Nov '21

15 Nov '21

Got the following in my log today: Nov 06 18:19:01.000 [warn] Possible compression bomb; abandoning stream. Nov 06 18:19:01.000 [warn] Unable to decompress HTTP body (tried Zstandard compressed, on Directory connection (client reading) with 45.66.33.45:80). 45.66.33.45 is tor.dizum.com, a Tor directory authority. False positive or a problem generating directory info at dizum?

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Questions about my tor node
by Bobby 15 Nov '21

15 Nov '21

Hello I'm running a tor node and I paid for a VPS for the express purposes of running that node. I have configured it to use almost all of the bandwidth of the VPS and then to allow bursts to use all of the bandwidth I have also set it to serve directory requests. The server also has 1GB of ram and 1 CPU core. Is this good enough to be helpful in the tor network?

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Re: [tor-relays] Hardware requirements for a fast Tor relay
by failing.flyaway443＠mailer.me 12 Nov '21

12 Nov '21

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 >Since this is virtualization, make sure that features such as AES >acceleration are active. Yes, I have tested that. Is active. >The number of cores is not really relevant since Tor is not >multi-threaded. The EPYC 7702 can boost up to 3.35 GHz, check that it >reaches that under load. It actually reaches the frequency under load. Unfortunately, the one core is now fully under load. My Relay moved 5TB today, with an average bandwidth of 500Mbit. The average load according to HTOP is now just over 1.0, which is fine for a dual core. However, one core is loaded to 100%. So far, there are no error messages and I achieve a stable 40MB/s with peaks of up to 50MB/s. But my Relay is only a few days old. Advertised Bandwith is currently at just over 30 MiB, but that will change soon. I'm afraid the CPU won't do much more, but with 500Mbit/s I'm among the fastest Relays at this hoster. Directly on page 1. Let's see if I can tune a bit, otherwise I'll just let it run as long as no errors appear. >Also since you have 2 cores, you can run two instances of Tor. Yes, I know. However, the DirAuths then have more work to do because they have to add another Relay to the Consensus. Everything has advantages and disadvantages. Let's see what I do. >> I chose this server because the bandwith is unmetered and it's a >> guaranteed 1GHz link. >I assume you mean 1 Gbit/s. Yes, that was a typo. By the way, can someone explain to me how to reply directly to a reply in a thread without my reply just appearing at the bottom? I'm new to this list and haven't quite figured it out yet. I hope you understand what I mean - I want my replies to be indented correctly. Thanks! Have a great weekend, everyone! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCAAdFiEElcZnZFMJSyKcTts0q6Mz3/Qy4d0FAmGO/j0ACgkQq6Mz3/Qy 4d395A/+NDRe7IhCbsmgWCUM2Li1XnoN4g3Z091T+U1QPQg7kCvibXXeiHhgs/jP und/63N7FM3OmHi/WUPerK4qfk5lssRU0OPvyAApIzruCTBDj2TuCdpagsfNRQCU QFE162q/cUvwRDyoNHVXxhSk8Bvtwj6Mxw4oE5p6yJFvBgSjT7uHGZgAgHobs/QH zgCKsoEI3H0Wj8kYtxfP9xlhDe1XNidaGIXe5axFlcraw2/f7LXhG7BPJ2XaQHsp CCPFOoLt3Ggpl3AFyIT/UYJ+2e/y+RJXSy71ptew0Xl3MQXv8j5avpo1zmDFXYqV 4SYbjzqmn/5t/O5QPprTBDVr2+SgkjNoFJWFTFK5R7jjqqGvs9fzbAXV6XGOKBeC F6aRs/caQiJ57gAJmYdUW9dQubeIulR0yUlQlwXWWdAPEduLP3B8MxDtEuFOYHWL h+C3I1tlPp+DFE3hfPARW1hX8DGBtA8pH6MKwn6onJh65mWv6f7pmU8LQHbuPPmw w7o7qZHuXxhFSoxPRklISr0BjcLG94DHGWlD2UMyxpU/m3745+JGHhqlTJX+/aeN HHWJ9FN1beI4YHfeUHBgicEx8pywtHK/l6vi5v9rrzko7nbYwG4SayrsgrpXqz6F ifqCNzouxpjVs7MvuTDPIC62mNLED7Zop3tsMwdnyRZJc8Lm3Uo= =Gm4l -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Question about IPv6
by xplato 12 Nov '21

12 Nov '21

Greetings, I have three relays running Hardened BSD hosted at Frantech. They do not offer support for setting up IPv6. I am not sure how to accomplish this and wondered if anyone would have insight into setting this up? I have not found much in the way of instruction. A resource that provides instructions would be much appreciated. Kindly, Dan Sent with [ProtonMail](https://protonmail.com) Secure Email.

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Re: [tor-relays] Tor website
by failing.flyaway443＠mailer.me 12 Nov '21

12 Nov '21

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Hi potlatch, is this what you are looking for? https://gitweb.torproject.org/tor.git/tree/src/config/torrc.sample.in https://2019.www.torproject.org/docs/tor-manual.html.en Both links can be found at the bottom of this site: https://support.torproject.org/tbb/tbb-editing-torrc/ I hope this helps... Best regards... 95C6676453094B229C4EDB34ABA333DFF432E1DD -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCAAdFiEElcZnZFMJSyKcTts0q6Mz3/Qy4d0FAmGM5nsACgkQq6Mz3/Qy 4d2QihAAhFAVPRFMdYVokJoRw6kck2kVWO9tJ5/O716UZcCPozHP/ht+RO8GUu5t xF0B3U3tFLtOscnLV8TvhQN0Ngr86IYR3+tD0wxcaiZPj55mD2SMjouxiWdjXHYK fhoGUlw3vM53CeL1QsoCoDcKQHCVMfJZ8NhSA/ME4H9SQl7kkwswmnwwOyOFJ7Wc OM6xTwKddreqkUwWOyCPzaVOj12SjE3gT4LqQjTDYds0c2GWdU4RZUlIFVPA64BD j+p6WJg5wwkgfHA8SNZfAmPg8DYzz+vqbGghnOQbBychugek+bfB4HRn3RgCcxFB s7D50M8jixAOVQDokb7br+xIzN/BxGUfZPD5zgQirjQ/Q2fPx/Xr8EFeYjBlsptI 3k/wqubPGlQpYJkZqrRGQLNVPnQTAwuyWREB/+f6kheoI4Lj84981cRP1XEMh3YB a/L+t84mJaIM8RGi1YoDbhj6Ljmnr57UdOJqev+RnfZjHyxTt1xN6RdsLZxghV8R 9u0MMVNtzhIRci66XUHsREhbm6EzfB/8e1PaX+/TVaX4W/3zprFU9OSoPiBXNYg8 wLeTt3PKFt8bZ6+kmfaM6fDWMiISH5DAGjOtgPU5yoaNlcob2V09DZnWBjE2REPz pebl2NgQad99LK5La5pKkZAawuF/knxfivC0GEj8+0mEAzdPzpk= =tcbs -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: [tor-relays] Hardware requirements for a fast Tor relay
by failing.flyaway443＠mailer.me 12 Nov '21

12 Nov '21

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 Thank you for your suggestions, Gary. This is actually not a "real" root server, it's a KVM server (of course). The CPU is an AMD EPYC 7702 with 2 dedicated cores per server@3,35GHz. I chose this server because the bandwith is unmetered and it's a guaranteed 1GHz link. I don't think I will ever be able to relay 125MB/s, but I will try my best. If I can only reach ~50MB/s before the CPU starts to grumble I will set up a second Tor process and a second relay. I tuned my relay a bit today, using some of the tips from this conversation: https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-relays/2010-August/000164.html It's not really up to date, but still useful to some extent. Unfortunately I had to restart the Tor process, but my relay was already measured a few times and reaches spikes of 30MB/s. CPU usage is no issue at all yet, there is room for more. I can wait before I get the guard flag, this is not a race... Thanks again for your help. All the best. PGP-Fingerorint: 95C6676453094B229C4EDB34ABA333DFF432E1DD -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- iQIzBAEBCAAdFiEElcZnZFMJSyKcTts0q6Mz3/Qy4d0FAmGMbCAACgkQq6Mz3/Qy 4d2bpBAAmQIQ6wvjeBhdL4DxPdL9qlxIqbjPMxpPQWWCqSa3x/t+V3mcEzl/Srz7 5hUVwmYwMprtVA9Zf/MDPCElqbs5MpDrHkJE/rGhfEc6ld/Xu62LLVS7US+/ocTb RCLW1WG8pAQymR9avbyDqTqqTBOinIGlxwmCLXAldEllsxfVnKd4nFzxxEv/Ms/4 JrWvnOjJde46CCFchmjEfUGWVgquU9lsjpHbqVz/+ErUKVAd57BmPNpteiXed8xi RuM6BqB5/blL+CmdVISprisaIPIhqlCW5UEkuNPm5ijlrKrBYTSn4/b8HnMdg5UE ynAkzR5dkxyYee+uI84mgIfFNUzaVBpBq2W5obPqGiocoWQKgT70zVPxzLuguyoG U/Mzxikq4K86aorimSad207BEIVkey76s6jqqgKKI7UoTIYUTmc1xsA1tcgi44Me MelT5gEZ/fcesfPpYB/gkIyOIE+ADuCfnvOqDWAOvfnX9q6U9ek8+aHYSXGIdf9M oKjAKkO8Y/BWBsEHlnyBIrfE48/WtSNlQRj9oKSzyFtQs8wDhgoe3mgcvyHnPTOu Tq7UJUGV3L1LHOW6iEZTMKUsD9t1/NpGLpnTgTXne6bYzyJYL4D5w6IX30EaeaPw 387TB7cTj8Vaaw2bTiM7NlfAEdWqxt2v0qcgzFtTSIhnHLGtnQo= =tlZd -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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