Dev/Build Documentation/15 full
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Contents
Introduction[edit]
This page documents how to build Whonix ™ VirtualBox .ova and KVM .qcow2 images. For Qubes-Whonix ™, see Dev/Qubes#Build_Qubes-Whonix ™_Templates.
Host Preparation[edit]
- You need to build on Debian buster, such as Whonix-Workstation ™ 15 or a Debian buster VM.
- You cannot build on Whonix-Gateway ™ (due to networking issues).
- It is recommended to set your terminal (for example Konsole) to unlimited scrollback, so you can watch the full build log.
- You need ~ 30 GB free disk space.
- Do not build as root.
- 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 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
- 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
Get the Signing Key[edit]
This chapter is recommended for better security, but is not strictly required. (See Trust)
gpg --keyserver hkp://ipv4.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80 --recv-keys 916B8D99C38EAF5E8ADC7A2A8D66066A2EEACCDA
It isn't safe to only get the signing key from one source for the download you want to verify. For better security, learn more about the Whonix Signing Key.
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.
git clone --jobs=4 --recursive https://github.com/Whonix/Whonix
Remember it is Whonix, not whonix! If prompted for a username for github, you have mistyped the web address.
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.[1]
Retrieve a list of available git tags.
cd ~/Whonix/ && git tag
Verify the chosen tag to build. Replace with tag you want to build.
git verify-tag 15.0.0.3.3-stable
The output should look similar to this.
object 1844108109a5f2f8bddcf2257b9f3675be5cfb22
type commit
tag 15.0.0.3.3
tagger Patrick Schleizer <adrelanos@riseup.net> 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@riseup.net>" [ultimate]
Check the GPG signature timestamp makes sense. For example, if you previously saw a signature from 2018 and now see a signature from 2017, then this might be a targeted rollback (downgrade) or indefinite freeze attack. [2]
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. [3] (forum discussion) It is advisable to verify the signature of the git commit as well (replace 15.0.0.3.3 with the actual git tag being verified).
git verify-commit 15.0.0.3.3-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@riseup.net>" [ultimate]
Author: Patrick Schleizer <adrelanos@riseup.net>
Date: Sun Dec 7 01:22:22 2014 +0000
.
Choose Version[edit]
Retrieve a list of available git tags.
git tag
Use git checkout to select the preferred version (or git branch) to build.
git checkout 15.0.0.3.3-stable
Replace 15.0.0.3.3 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. To learn more about current Whonix ™ versions, follow the Whonix ™ News Blog.
VM Creation[edit]
The following build targets are available:
--target virtualbox
--target qcow2
--target raw
--target root
- --target virtualbox creates .ova images VirtualBox
- --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
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
The resulting .ova, .qcow2 and/or .raw images can be found in ~/whonix_binary folder.
While building, you might see a few Expected Build Warnings.
No comments for now due to spam. Use Whonix forums instead.
Did you know that Whonix could provide protection against backdoors? See Verifiable Builds. Help is wanted and welcomed.
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