Dev/Build Documentation/15 full
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Introduction[edit]
This page documents how to build Whonix ™ VirtualBox .ova and KVM .qcow2 images. For Qubes-Whonix ™, see Qubes-Whonix ™ Build Documentation.
Host Preparation[edit]
- You need to build on Debian
buster
, such as Whonix-Workstation ™ 15 or a Debianbuster
VM. - You need ~
30
GB free disk space. - You need ~
4
GB free RAM.- Might actually work with a lot less RAM.
- Might actually work with less RAM if you have swap.
- Do not build under user
root
. Login regular as useruser
and then usesudo
as documented below. - You cannot build on Whonix-Gateway ™ (due to networking issues).
- It is recommended to set your terminal (for example xfce4-terminal) to unlimited scrollback, so you can watch the full build log.
- Short: Don't add private files to Whonix ™ source code folder! [...]
Long: [...] Unless you know what you are doing. Technically, it would work. This is recommended against. Those files would get managed by the respective package. When you later update Whonix ™ debian packages, your files would get deleted by the package manager. Also adding private files to Whonix ™ source code folder, later contributing to Whonix ™ development and accidentally pushing the wrong git branch would be a disaster. Better add your private files to Whonix ™ after building Whonix ™. Or add a custom build step adding your files, which then get copied from a folder outside of Whonix ™ source folder. See "Source Code Changes" in "Optional Build Configuration" below.
- Short: Make sure there aren't any VMs in VirtualBox (inside your build machine) already called Whonix-Gateway ™ or Whonix-Workstation ™!
Long: Because the build script would fail, because it tries to create VMs either named Whonix-Gateway ™ or Whonix-Workstation ™. Running the clean script between builds will prevent this error.
- Short: Do not try to build Whonix-Gateway ™ and Whonix-Workstation ™ at the same time!
Long: Building Whonix-Gateway ™ and Whonix-Workstation ™ at the same time is not supported due to limitations in the build script. In other words, do not try to run for example sudo ~/Whonix/whonix_build --flavor whonix-gateway -- --build --target virtualbox and sudo ~/Whonix/whonix_build --flavor whonix-workstation -- --build --target virtualbox at the same time. The build would probably fail.
- Short: Don't use images created inside Continuous Integration (CI) environments for anything besides testing!
Usually you are not using CI [archive] environments without knowing.
You can find out if you are running inside a CI environment by running.
echo "$CI"
If it shows nothing, i.e.
Everything is fine.
Otherwise, if it were to show.
true
Then don't use these images for anything besides testing.
Reason: https://github.com/Whonix/Whonix/blob/master/build-steps.d/1100_prepare-build-machine#L577 [archive]
- Install build dependencies and get the source code.
Update the package lists.
sudo apt-get update
Install build dependencies.
sudo apt-get install git time curl apt-cacher-ng lsb-release fakeroot dpkg-dev
- VirtualBox builds only: Install VirtualBox on the build machine as per recommended VirtualBox version. [1]
Get the Signing Key[edit]
This step is recommended for better security, but is not strictly required. (See Trust)
Get the Source Code[edit]
By proceeding, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to our Terms of Service and License Agreement.
Install git.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install git
Get source code including git submodules. [2]
git clone --depth=1 --branch 15.0.1.5.4-stable --jobs=4 --recurse-submodules --shallow-submodules https://gitlab.com/whonix/Whonix.git
Shift to the source folder.
cd Whonix
OpenPGP Verify the Source Code[edit]
This chapter is recommended for better security, but is not strictly required.[3]
Change directly into source code folder.
cd Whonix
Git fetch. [4]
git fetch
Verify the chosen tag to build. Replace with tag you want to build.
git verify-tag 15.0.1.5.4-stable
The output should look similar to this.
object 1844108109a5f2f8bddcf2257b9f3675be5cfb22
type commit
tag 15.0.1.5.4
tagger Patrick Schleizer <adrelanos@whonix.org> 1392320095 +0000
.
gpg: Signature made Thu 13 Feb 2014 07:34:55 PM UTC using RSA key ID 77BB3C48
gpg: Good signature from "Patrick Schleizer <adrelanos@whonix.org>" [ultimate]
Check the GPG signature timestamp makes sense. For example, if you previously saw a signature from 2020 and now see a signature from 2019, then this might be a targeted rollback (downgrade) or indefinite freeze attack. [5]
The warning.
gpg: WARNING: This key is not certified with a trusted signature!
gpg: There is no indication that the signature belongs to the owner.
Is explained on the Whonix Signing Key page and can be safely ignored.
By convention, git tags should point to signed git commits. [6] (forum discussion [archive]) It is advisable to verify the signature of the git commit as well (replace 15.0.1.5.4
with the actual git tag being verified).
git verify-commit 15.0.1.5.4-stable^{commit}
The output should look similar to this.
commit 5aa1c307c943be60e7d2bfa5727fa5ada3a79c4a
gpg: Signature made Sun 07 Dec 2014 01:22:22 AM UTC using RSA key ID 77BB3C48
gpg: Good signature from "Patrick Schleizer <adrelanos@whonix.org>" [ultimate]
Author: Patrick Schleizer <adrelanos@whonix.org>
Date: Sun Dec 7 01:22:22 2014 +0000
.
Choose Version[edit]
Retrieve a list of available git tags.
git --no-pager tag
Use git checkout to select the preferred version to build.
git checkout --recurse-submodules --shallow-submodules 15.0.1.5.4-stable
Replace 15.0.1.5.4-stable
with the actual version chosen for the build: the stable, testers-only or developers version. Common sense is required when choosing the right version number. For example, the latest available version number is not necessarily the most stable or suitable. Follow the Whonix ™ News Blog as it might contain information.
Check if you really got the version you want.
git describe
Should show:
15.0.1.5.4-stable
Check if source folder is pristine.
git status
Should show nothing.
HEAD detached at 15.0.1.5.4-stable
nothing to commit, working tree clean
If it shows something else, do not continue.
VM Creation[edit]
The following build targets are available:
--target virtualbox
--target qcow2
--target raw
--target root
--target virtualbox
creates VirtualBox VMs.--target qcow2
creates.qcow2
images for KVM and QEMU.--target raw
creates.raw
images.--target root
is for Physical Isolation Build Documentation.--target virtualbox
,--target qcow2
, and--target raw
can be combined to build multiple images at once.
Choose a flavor.
--flavor whonix-gateway-cli
--flavor whonix-gateway-xfce
--flavor whonix-workstation-cli
--flavor whonix-workstation-cli
Optional. Enable Whonix ™ APT repository inside the images. [7] See Trust. This is done for official Whonix ™ redistributeable builds.
--repo true
See also Optional Build Configuration.
Note: These instructions use VirtualBox as an example, assume you have the Whonix ™ source code in your home folder (at ~/
.)
Delete any existing Whonix-Gateway ™ virtual machine with the following command. Warning: This will delete any virtual machine named Whonix-Gateway ™ from VirtualBox installed on your build machine!
sudo ~/Whonix/whonix_build --flavor whonix-gateway-xfce --target virtualbox --clean
Delete any existing Whonix-Workstation ™ virtual machine with the following command. Warning: This will delete any virtual machine named Whonix-Workstation ™ from VirtualBox installed on your build machine!
sudo ~/Whonix/whonix_build --flavor whonix-workstation-xfce --target virtualbox --clean
Build a Whonix-Gateway ™ virtual machine image.
sudo ~/Whonix/whonix_build --flavor whonix-gateway-xfce --target virtualbox --build
Build a Whonix-Workstation ™ virtual machine image.
sudo ~/Whonix/whonix_build --flavor whonix-workstation-xfce --target virtualbox --build
While building, you might see a few Expected Build Warnings.
Build Result[edit]
- VirtualBox: Te newly created VMs can be seen in VirtualBox user interface and in the usual VirtualBox data folders.
- KVM, QEMU, raw images: The resulting
.qcow2
and/or.raw
images can be found in~/whonix_binary
folder.
To create a (unified [archive]) .ova
image(s) or libvirt.xz
archives, there are two options.
- A) Automated, a bit difficult (since it expects preexisting signing keys), using prepare_release script, OR
- B) Manually.
- VirtualBox: Using the VirtualBox graphical or command line interface VM export feature could be used. [8]
- KVM: Manually.
Prepare Release[edit]
prepare_release [archive] is useful for:
- creation of a unified [archive]
.ova
image orlibvirt.xz
archive - creation of torrent files
- creation of hash sum files
- creation of software signatures
- Adding license agreement.
- Adding disclaimer.
- Redistribution
- Example:
sudo -E /home/user/Whonix/packages/whonix-developer-meta-files/release/prepare_release --build --target virtualbox --flavor whonix-workstation-xfce
For private builds, i.e. for builds which are not supposed to be redistributed to others, none of this is important. If any of this was important, it could also be done manually.
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ Due to technical challenges, see VirtualBox Installation Challenges.
- ↑
Optional
git
parameters:--depth=1
: Used to speed up download.--branch 15.0.1.5.1-stable
Usability. Used to speed up download.--jobs=4
: Used to speed up download.--recurse-submodules --shallow-submodules
: Usability.
git
are free to drop any of these optional parameters. - ↑ See Trust.
- ↑ Optional. [...]
- ↑ As defined by TUF: Attacks and Weaknesses:
- ↑ Beginning from git tag 9.6 and above.
- ↑
--redistribute
will setexport whonix_build_redistribute="true"
which results in settingWHONIX_APT_REPOSITORY_OPTS="--enable --codename $whonix_build_apt_stable_release" export WHONIX_APT_REPOSITORY_OPTS
whonix_build_apt_stable_release
defaults tobuster
and could optionally through a build configuration set tobuster-proposed-updates
,buster-testers
orbuster-developers
. - ↑
This is sane since important VM settings were already configured in https://github.com/Whonix/Whonix/blob/master/build-steps.d/2600_create-vbox-vm [archive].
prepare_release
VM export does nothing special/important for privately used builds.
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