Whonix-Gateway ™ Traffic: Transparent Proxying
From Whonix
Introduction[edit]
All traffic originating from Whonix-Workstation ™ and Whonix-Gateway ™ is routed over Tor. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Whonix-Workstation ™ has the transparent proxying feature enabled by default. (You could disable it if you wanted to.)
Whonix-Gateway ™ has by default no transparent proxying feature. Instructions below document how you could enable it. There are no known use cases besides leak testing.
How-to: Enable Transparent Proxying for Whonix-Gateway ™ own Traffic[edit]
Advanced users only!
Usually recommended against and unnecessary!
Modify Whonix-Gateway ™ User Firewall Settings
Note: If no changes have yet been made to Whonix Firewall Settings, then the Whonix User Firewall Settings File /usr/local/etc/whonix_firewall.d/50_user.conf appears empty (because it does not exist). This is expected.
If using Qubes-Whonix ™, complete these steps.
In Whonix-Gateway ™ AppVM. Make sure folder /usr/local/etc/whonix_firewall.d exists.
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/etc/whonix_firewall.d
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Gateway ™ AppVM (commonly called sys-whonix) → Whonix User Firewall Settings
If using a graphical Whonix-Gateway ™, complete these steps.
Start Menu → Applications → Settings → User Firewall Settings
If using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway ™, complete these steps.
In Whonix-Gateway ™, open the whonix_firewall configuration file in an editor.
sudoedit /usr/local/etc/whonix_firewall.d/50_user.conf
For more help, press on Expand on the right.
Note: This is for informational purposes only! Do not edit /etc/whonix_firewall.d/30_whonix_gateway_default.conf.
Note: The Whonix Global Firewall Settings File /etc/whonix_firewall.d/30_whonix_gateway_default.conf contains default settings and explanatory comments about their purpose. By default, the file is opened read-only and is not meant to be directly edited. Below, it is recommended to open the file without root rights. The file contains an explanatory comment on how to change firewall settings.
## Please use "/etc/whonix_firewall.d/50_user.conf" for your custom configuration, ## which will override the defaults found here. When Whonix is updated, this ## file may be overwritten.
See also Whonix modular flexible .d style configuration folders.
To view the file, follow these instructions.
If using Qubes-Whonix ™, complete these steps.
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Template: whonix-gw-15 → Whonix Global Firewall Settings
If using a graphical Whonix-Gateway ™, complete these steps.
Start Menu → Applications → Settings → Global Firewall Settings
If using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway ™, complete these steps.
In Whonix-Gateway ™, open the whonix_firewall configuration file in an editor.
nano /etc/whonix_firewall.d/30_whonix_gateway_default.conf
Add the following content.
GATEWAY_TRANSPARENT_TCP=1 GATEWAY_TRANSPARENT_DNS=1
Save.
Reload Whonix-Gateway ™ Firewall.
If you are using Qubes-Whonix ™, complete the following steps.
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Gateway ™ ProxyVM (commonly named sys-whonix) → Reload Whonix Firewall
If you are using a graphical Whonix-Gateway ™, complete the following steps.
Start Menu → Applications → System → Reload Whonix Firewall
If you are using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway ™, run.
sudo whonix_firewall
Open /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf.
If you are using Qubes-Whonix ™, complete the following steps.
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Gateway ™ ProxyVM (commonly named sys-whonix) → Tor User Config (Torrc)
If you are using a graphical Whonix-Gateway ™, complete the following steps.
Start Menu → Applications → Settings → /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf
If you are using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway ™, complete the following steps.
sudo nano /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf
Add the following content.
TransPort 127.0.0.1:9041 DnsPort 127.0.0.1:54
Save.
Reload Tor.
After editing /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf, Tor must be reloaded for changes to take effect.
Note: If Tor does not connect after completing all these steps, then a user mistake is the most likely explanation. Recheck /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf and repeat the steps outlined in the sections above. If Tor then connects successfully, all the necessary changes have been made.
If you are using Qubes-Whonix ™, complete the following steps.
Qubes App Launcher (blue/grey "Q") → Whonix-Gateway ™ ProxyVM (commonly named 'sys-whonix') → Reload Tor
If you are using a graphical Whonix-Gateway ™, complete the following steps.
Start Menu → Applications → Settings → Reload Tor
If you are using a terminal-only Whonix-Gateway ™, click
HERE for instructions.
Complete the following steps.
Reload Tor.
sudo service tor@default reload
Check Tor's daemon status.
sudo service tor@default status
It should include a a message saying.
Active: active (running) since ...
In case of issues, try the following debugging steps.
Check Tor's config.
sudo -u debian-tor tor --verify-config
The output should be similar to the following.
Sep 17 17:40:41.416 [notice] Read configuration file "/usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf". Configuration was valid
Test if you wish.
UWT_DEV_PASSTHROUGH=1 curl --tlsv1.2 --proto =https -H 'Host: check.torproject.org' -k https://116.202.120.181
See Also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ Since Whonix 0.2.1, Whonix-Gateway ™ traffic is also routed over Tor. In this way, use of Whonix is hidden from persons or systems observing the network.
- ↑ To preserve the anonymity of a user's Whonix-Workstation ™ activities, it is not necessary to torify Whonix-Gateway ™ own traffic.
- ↑
For reader interest: If DNS settings on Whonix-Gateway ™ are changed in
/etc/resolv.conf, this only affects Whonix-Gateway ™ own DNS requests issued by applications using the system's default DNS resolver. By default, no applications issuing network traffic on Whonix-Gateway ™ use the system's default DNS resolver. All applications installed by default on Whonix-Gateway ™ that issue network traffic (apt-get, whonixcheck, sdwdate) are explicitly configured, or forced by uwt wrappers, to use their own TorSocksPort(see Stream Isolation). - ↑
Whonix-Workstation ™ default applications are configured to use separate Tor
SocksPorts(see Stream Isolation), thereby not using the system's default DNS resolver. Any applications in Whonix-Workstation ™ that are not configured for stream isolation - for examplenslookup- will use the default DNS server configured in Whonix-Workstation ™ (via/etc/network/interfaces), which is the Whonix-Gateway ™. Those DNS requests are redirected to Tor's DnsPort by Whonix-Gateway ™ firewall. Whonix-Gateway ™/etc/resolv.confdoes not affect Whonix-Workstation ™ DNS requests.
Whonix ™ is Supported by Evolution Host DDoS Protected VPS. Stay private and get your VPS with Bitcoin or Monero.
Search engines: YaCy | Qwant | ecosia | MetaGer | peekier | Whonix ™ Wiki
Check out the Whonix ™ News Blog. 
This is a wiki. Want to improve this page? Help is welcome and volunteer contributions are happily considered! Read, understand and agree to Conditions for Contributions to Whonix ™, then Edit! Edits are held for moderation. Policy of Whonix Website and Whonix Chat and Policy On Nonfreedom Software applies.
Copyright (C) 2012 - 2020 ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP. Whonix ™ is a trademark. Whonix ™ is a licensee [archive] of the Open Invention Network [archive]. Unless otherwise noted, the content of this page is copyrighted and licensed under the same Freedom Software license as Whonix ™ itself. (Why?)
Whonix ™ is a derivative of and not affiliated with Debian [archive]. Debian is a registered trademark [archive] owned by Software in the Public Interest, Inc [archive].
Whonix ™ is produced independently from the Tor® [archive] anonymity software and carries no guarantee from The Tor Project [archive] about quality, suitability or anything else.
By using our website, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Terms of Service, and E-Sign Consent. Whonix ™ is provided by ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP. See Imprint, Contact.