- tor-relays - lists.torproject.org

experiences with debian tor 0.2.8.6 package from deb.torproject.org
by tor relay 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

Hi, I'm running a relay on debian jessie using packages from deb.torproject.org. I want to share the problems I had so others are aware of them when upgrading their relays. While upgrading from 0.2.7.6 to 0.2.8.6 via apt-get, I did a tail -f syslog to make sure I notice problems during the upgrade. (I expected a simple restart of all running tor instances) I use debian's multi instance systemd service file. When upgrading, all running tor instances are stopped (not restarted, as expected) syslog shows: Interrupt: we have stopped accepting new connections, and will shut down in 30 seconds. Interrupt again to exit now. Clean shutdown finished. Exiting. (problem is reproducible) Side note (unrelated to the upgrade but also relevant for the debian tor package from deb.torproject.org repo): Stopping the default instance stops all instances due to /lib/systemd/system/tor@.service: [...] PartOf=tor.service ReloadPropagatedFrom=tor.service How about using the same way as the RPM maintainer does - so one can enable the default instance without affecting all others? PartOf=tor-master.service ReloadPropagatedFrom=tor-master.service

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Which OS gives usually the best performance for a relay?
by Farid Joubbi 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

Hello, I am thinking of setting up a new relay. I know that the hardware in the server is going to be the bottleneck, not my Internet connection. I have a problem deciding on which OS to use for the relay. A few years ago when I had a similar relay going, I had it running on OpenBSD first. Then I changed the OS to FreeBSD and the performance got about 20% better. I have no idea if this would be the case today too. So I think that maybe it's either FreeBSD or Debian that would be "best", but I have nothing concrete to base that decision on unless I try them both. I am going to use a Via C7 board in this specific case. So I suspect that it's the maturity of the VIA drivers in the OS that is going to make the difference. Still I would like to know how to think in similar situations in the future even for other hardware. Has anyone any concrete experience of the tor relay speeds on different operating systems? I don't want to start a flame war of religious beliefs, but I suspect that OSes differ in how optimized they are for different tasks. Thankful for any constructive input on this. Regards, Farid

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Tor and Diplomatic Immunity
by Kenneth Freeman 08 Sep '16

08 Sep '16

Do embassies and consulates run Tor nodes? AFAIK no studies have been done on this, but diplomatic immunity and Tor would seem to be a match made in Heaven.

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Re: [tor-relays] tor-relays Digest, Vol 68, Issue 22
by daniel boone 07 Sep '16

07 Sep '16

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Re: [tor-relays] tor-relays Digest, Vol 68, Issue 21
by daniel boone 07 Sep '16

07 Sep '16

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write-history for exit relays only?
by Philipp Winter 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

I want to learn how many bytes exit relays forwarded. I assume that the write-history that is published in a relay's extra-info document includes bytes that were relayed as part of the exit's guard and middle role? If so, is there a way to learn how many bytes were written by the relay in its exit role only? I suspect that one could approximate this number by accounting for the probability of all exits being selected as guard, middle, and exit, but I would prefer a simpler and more reliable approach.

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Re: [tor-relays] tor-relays Digest, Vol 68, Issue 16
by daniel boone 06 Sep '16

06 Sep '16

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Tor bridge and obfs4proxy
by Arisbe 05 Sep '16

05 Sep '16

I need someone's bridge experience. I had an HD crash and lost one of my Tor bridges. So, I'm rebuilding on a leased VPS. First I tried with Debian 8 and then with ubuntu 16.04 when Debian didn't work. With both operating systems I get a warning message when I start Tor. Tor is the latest version as is obfs4proxy: Sep 04 13:39:41.641 [warn] Strange ServerTransportPlugin type 'obfs4' Sep 04 13:39:41.641 [warn] Failed to parse/validate config: Invalid server transport line. See logs for details. There are no log entries. Apparently Tor starts without the proxy. I have configured torrc as follows: ServerTransportPlugin obfs3 obfs4 exec /usr/bin/obfs4proxy ExtORPort auto /usr/bin/ does contain the obfs4proxy file. Does anyone know my problem? Is there a 'tell-all' explanation of obfs4proxy? Thanks, Arisbe

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Useful metrics for relay operators
by Alison 05 Sep '16

05 Sep '16

Hello all, After Roger's recent checkin emails to this list, some of the folks from the community and metrics teams have started to brainstorm ways that we could use Onionoo data [1] to give better support and recognition to the relay operators. For example, a weekly mail of all the relays that just passed the "earned a tshirt" threshold, or some other threshold about how much bandwidth they've pushed over a period of time. The community team would then contact the operator(s) and congratulate them, thank them for their service, see if we can offer them help in any other ways, and so forth. I'd like to hear directly from relay operators about what kinds of metrics they might like to see involved in a project like this. Have you achieved milestones with your relays that you wished Tor Project would have given you some recognition for? Have there been specific times you'd wished for a checkin email, like the one Roger sent (eg 3 months after starting a new relay)? Anything else that you think Onionoo could measure that would be valuable for you as an operator? Thank you so much for running relays! Looking forward to hearing from you. Alison [1] https://onionoo.torproject.org/

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Re: [tor-relays] tor-relays Digest, Vol 68, Issue 12
by daniel boone 05 Sep '16

05 Sep '16

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