[tor-bugs] #15006 [Tor]: Improve error message "Connecting to a relay directory failed (no route to host)."

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#15006: Improve error message "Connecting to a relay directory failed (no route to
host)."
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     Reporter:  krichter  |      Owner:  nickm
         Type:  defect    |     Status:  assigned
     Priority:  normal    |  Milestone:  Tor: 0.2.6.x-final
    Component:  Tor       |    Version:
   Resolution:            |   Keywords:  026-deferrable
Actual Points:            |  Parent ID:
       Points:            |
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Comment (by mcs):

 I experimented by deleting all of my tor cache files, disconnecting my
 Ethernet cable, and trying to start Tor Browser.  The error message that
 is the focus of this ticket can be generated in response to a bootstrap
 status event that looks like this:

   650 STATUS_CLIENT WARN BOOTSTRAP PROGRESS=5 TAG=conn_dir
 SUMMARY="Connecting to directory server" WARNING="No route to host"
 REASON=NOROUTE COUNT=4 RECOMMENDATION=warn

 I also saw a similar response to a 'GETINFO status/bootstrap-phase'
 command:
   250-status/bootstrap-phase=WARN BOOTSTRAP PROGRESS=5 TAG=conn_dir
 SUMMARY="Connecting to directory server" WARNING="No route to host"
 REASON=NOROUTE COUNT=2 RECOMMENDATION=warn

 The error message displayed by the browser is not in the tor code; that is
 because Tor Launcher uses TAG and REASON as keywords to produce localized
 error messages (conn_dir is mapped to 'Connecting to a relay directory'
 and NOROUTE is mapped to 'no route to host').

 Since Tor Launcher does not show users the text within the SUMMARY and
 WARNING fields, I am not sure where to add the host within these control
 port responses.  You could add an optional HOST field and return it for
 certain failures (e.g., CONNECTREFUSED, TIMEOUT, NOROUTE).  Or you could
 hack it into the WARNING field using some parsable convention, e.g.,
 WARNING="No route to host [1.2.3.4]" (but this is hacky and violates the
 "Controllers SHOULD NOT rely on the format of any warning string" clause
 within the control protocol spec).

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/15006#comment:3>
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