Silk Road forums
Discussion => Security => Topic started by: #slothrop on March 04, 2013, 06:17 pm
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I understand that windows can be unsafe for us SR users so I've decided to switch over to linux. My questions are: 1) Which specific version of linux is recommended for ease of use and anonymity? 2) Once I have linux up and running, how should I proceed with cleaning out and deleting windows? 3) Can I transfer my private and public keys from my windows PGP software to my new linux software? 4) I'm sure I've overlooked some aspect of this process, so any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Good for you, its a big change & it may take some time to get used to but you won't look back.
Linux is so much better than windows, safer, more modifiable & with better (often free) software.
Which version, or distro, of Linux to use is up to you, the most common is Ubuntu, but others are Mint, Fedora, Debian, Knoppix, SUSE, Liberte. Seriously there's loads all with different features & focuses.
Your best bet is to search for linux distros, there's a ew sites which rate then & discuss features & pros/cons. Find a few you like the look of and download a bootable live version, copy this to dvd or usb & boot it up so you can have a play & try them out.
Once you've got one you like & have read a bit about how to use it - and have backed up any windows stuff you want to keep - reboot your hard drive. This will delete everything. Once that's done boot up your linux distro for good as your new operating system.
You can transfer your public & private keys from windows pgp, I forget the name of the windows files though, you can find it easily enough with a google search, then you can just import that file into your linux PGP.
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I should have mentioned that I'm using an older machine, circa 2006-7 if I had to guess. When I looked at the page for Ubuntu, it looked like something that might not run on the centrino processor I've got. Unfortunately I don't know the specs so for now I'm looking for something that is pretty bare bones.
Edit: I just checked and it looks like I've got an Intel Pentium M processor. 1.60GHz. Will the 32-bit version of Ubuntu run on this?
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I should have mentioned that I'm using an older machine, circa 2006-7 if I had to guess. When I looked at the page for Ubuntu, it looked like something that might not run on the centrino processor I've got. Unfortunately I don't know the specs so for now I'm looking for something that is pretty bare bones.
Edit: I just checked and it looks like I've got an Intel Pentium M processor. 1.60GHz. Will the 32-bit version of Ubuntu run on this?
Just go to the Ubuntu site and follow the instructions for running Ubuntu directly from the CD-ROM. That way you can try it out first to see if it runs on your hardware.
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I wouldn't be too quick to get rid of Windows. Linux isn't that secure if the person setting it up doesn't know what they're doing. Start out running it as a live cd and when you figure out which one you want to learn, maybe run it in VMWare Player or dual boot. Learn how to do basic stuff like install and configure programs, set up a firewall, and maybe compile kernel modules before you dump Windows. At that point, you can run Windows in VMWare if you ever need it for specific programs. (I occasionally have to use it for Solidworks.)
As for your hardware, I would think that Ubuntu would work though it probably won't be fast. I doubt it will be any slower than Windows though. Burn a live cd and see.
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If your purpose is greater security and anonymity, I'd recommend Liberte Linux on a hdd install.
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Edit: I just checked and it looks like I've got an Intel Pentium M processor. 1.60GHz. Will the 32-bit version of Ubuntu run on this?
Should do, won't be the fastest though.
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There really isn't any minimum processor. As long as it's something more recent than a first generation pentium, you shouldn't have any problems other than speed. Ubuntu is pretty heavy and designed for features instead of efficiency, but honestly, I really wouldn't recommend using anything else until you get a feel for Linux. Trying to use unfriendly distributions can be really painful if you don't know how they work.
I mean just getting something to print can be a full day task if you don't know how to do it.
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if you want anonymity then get a distro specific for such things, tails or liberte
tails is updated about every 6 weeks now, both have minimum requirements.
just remember daily use on these distros is limited and slow, they are for anonymous work, nothing more.
for something a little more complete but not as taxing as ubuntu which isnt gonna run for shit on your computer btw. try lubuntu a lite version.
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
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Just use a TAILS live cd. You can convert it to boot off a USB stick with a program, or maybe they offer a download for it, I dunno. You can go that route just fine.
Deleting ANY trace of all of those is going to be... involved. Manual registry editing, which is overkill. PGP isn't illegal -- honestly, unless you're in a fascist country, you have nothing to worry about if they find that on your computer. Also, any USB key you plug in while Windows is on is recorded. I don't know how much of it is, probably just the serial number, but that's available if someone pokes around (it doesn't really matter, but just FYI, ya know).
Deleting the Tor browser bundle is good enough; it'll be basically clean. The hard drive space will be overwritten and lost forever in short order.
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I've always had Tor and PGP on a thumb drive. I was under the impression that Windows somehow recorded everything you do on it, i.e. if I ever got into serious trouble, LE could take my computer and see that I'd been logging into SR on a weekly basis for months, even without having the thumb drive Tor and PGP are stored on, I'm not dealing or ordering large quantities so this is all probably overkill, but I just want to know that, worst case scenario, there won't be any way to prove I've used SR. Assuming the the thumb drive hasn't been compromised, that is.
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Are you selling on SR? Because if you aren't, no one in their right mind is going to waste the time and money to hire real forensics experts to rip your computer apart looking for every incriminating piece of evidence they can find. SR is not illegal. The items for sale through it are -- you're fine if you aren't caught for possession or trafficking.
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I'd recommend a bootable USB with tails on it. Whether you want a persistent volume (ability to save things between tails sessions, like pgp keys & bookmarks, etc) or just a tails operating system that's wiped clean at the end of every use is up to you. There should be no trace on windows that your using tails.
https://tails.boum.org/news/
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I run 64bit ubuntu as my main distro, then I run liberte liux through virtual box. I also run backtrack through virtualbox. I also run xp through virtual box. The point is vm's are cool.
The easiest way to run a secure linux os is to install the ova version of liberte as a virtual machine. If you want I can whip up some comprehensive instructions. I have multiple live usb setups but my virtualbox machines are the most convienient I find.
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Yeah, VirtualBox really is fantastic. Blows me away how well it works; just don't expect to play Windows games in a VM :)
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Yeah, VirtualBox really is fantastic. Blows me away how well it works; just don't expect to play Windows games in a VM :)
Its cake to use as well, even compared to live usb/cd... Virtualization is the future man 8)
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I run 64bit ubuntu as my main distro, then I run liberte liux through virtual box. I also run backtrack through virtualbox. I also run xp through virtual box. The point is vm's are cool.
The easiest way to run a secure linux os is to install the ova version of liberte as a virtual machine. If you want I can whip up some comprehensive instructions. I have multiple live usb setups but my virtualbox machines are the most convienient I find.
Yes, please do this.
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I run 64bit ubuntu as my main distro, then I run liberte liux through virtual box. I also run backtrack through virtualbox. I also run xp through virtual box. The point is vm's are cool.
The easiest way to run a secure linux os is to install the ova version of liberte as a virtual machine. If you want I can whip up some comprehensive instructions. I have multiple live usb setups but my virtualbox machines are the most convienient I find.
Yes, please do this.
Oh please, oh please, oh please do. + all the karma!
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I run 64bit ubuntu as my main distro, then I run liberte liux through virtual box. I also run backtrack through virtualbox. I also run xp through virtual box. The point is vm's are cool.
The easiest way to run a secure linux os is to install the ova version of liberte as a virtual machine. If you want I can whip up some comprehensive instructions. I have multiple live usb setups but my virtualbox machines are the most convienient I find.
Yes, please do this.
Oh please, oh please, oh please do. + all the karma!
Alrighty, I'm all kicked back right now, so I'll likely fashion a better writeup later if anyone wants.. In the meantime Ive got an old set of instructions I wrote for a dude back in the newbie forums that I'll paste. That should get you going untill I get some motivation.
"Firstly let's explain virtualization.. go and download/install a program called virtualbox. this program once installed will allow you to build virtual machines.... or computers within computers A virtualization program essentially divides up your computers hardware to allow for multiple operating systems to run in their own sand-boxed environment side by side..
Go to Liberte' linux homepage and you will see a few download options, choose the "open virtualization format" or otherwise known as the ova format. Allow it to download from sourceforge.
Open virtualbox and go to "file" then "import appliance".. this will open an import wizard.
Select "choose" and find the liberte ova file you just downloaded.. once you've done this just hit next.
A list of details and config settings will open, just go ahead and leave all of the defaults for now.. next button
With any luck it will now assemble your new machine and show it in virtualbox
Awesome, select your new machine and hit "start". you should see a window open and beautiful text start filling up your screen as the first time boot gets underway.. After a moment the text will ask you to enter a password.. this password is what encrypts the persistence and allows you to login so make sure this is one of those "important" passwords that you won't forget.
Aaaand there you should be!
If you have any more questions let me know.. maybe later I'll write up a Live usb guide"
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I tend to think of it as a virtual "machine" (as in a virtual computer) that runs on top of the real hardware and operating system the same way any program does. Except virtual machines implement entire virtual machines (big surprise, right). They provide a layer between the hardware and some arbitrary software, which is usually an operating system.
In a nutshell, it lets you run an entire second operating system right on your primary one's desktop. If it helps you picture it, the interface is almost identical to a remote desktop session with a ton of extra configuration options; and it's not remote, it's on your computer and you can have as many of them as you have the space for. You can also do cool stuff like save the entire machine state as a snapshot and load it up later (same way you can with console game emulators). There's a lot of neat stuff to play with if you get into that sort of thing.
Unfortunately, they're slower than running on the hardware directly (the virtual machine layer in the middle translating stuff is a lot of extra overhead). They're also not perfect. They're amazingly good, but graphics are one of the things that don't really get emulated properly; for example, I can't even enable the Air theme (the transparent glassy one) in a Windows VM. The graphics glitch too much.
If you want to play with one (VirtualBox used to be free, I assume it still is), go to https://www.virtualbox.org/
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I think people have been able to play 3D games in Windows virtual machines with IOMMU / VT-d capable processors.
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yeah i thought vm was the way to run tails and liberte since tails gives the warning about no vm on shutdown. but upon boot in a vm tails gives a warning about using it in a vm and about the host machine spying on you, so your secure vm is only as secure as your host machine :)
but vm is great to use windows programs in linux, better than wine.
and yes, your machine will work fine with tails i run it on a pos netbook like dual core 1ghz or some shit, my phone has more ram and processing speed.
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I'd recommend a bootable USB with tails on it. Whether you want a persistent volume (ability to save things between tails sessions, like pgp keys & bookmarks, etc) or just a tails operating system that's wiped clean at the end of every use is up to you. There should be no trace on windows that your using tails.
https://tails.boum.org/news/
This. It provides a tor configuration backed up with firewall rules the redirect non-tor traffic through tor and block what it cannot redirect. That way no side channel attacks can easily reveal your IP. It supports properly encrypted volumes that are as good as your password. You need a good password, a $50,000 system can do 1.5 trillion password guesses per seconds, it can work through ALL 10 character passwords in less than a year. Make a passphrase that is 15+ characters longs and creative.
It also has all the tools you need like PGP. Pity it does not have a bitcoin client built in, but I can see why. The lightweight clients that don't require huge amounts of disk space have privacy issues.
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Can I run tails or liberty decently well on this processor? Preferably, I think I'd actually like to keep windows on the computer and boot linux from my thumb drive because all I want linux for is SR and Tormail. Is this a viable permanent solution? If I do that is there any way I can wipe my windows clean of any trace of SR, Tor, PGP, etc?
Thanks guys. My knowledge of anonymity software ends at SR usage.
I'd recommend a bootable USB with tails on it. Whether you want a persistent volume (ability to save things between tails sessions, like pgp keys & bookmarks, etc) or just a tails operating system that's wiped clean at the end of every use is up to you. There should be no trace on windows that your using tails.
https://tails.boum.org/news/
This. It provides a tor configuration backed up with firewall rules the redirect non-tor traffic through tor and block what it cannot redirect. That way no side channel attacks can easily reveal your IP. It supports properly encrypted volumes that are as good as your password. You need a good password, a $50,000 system can do 1.5 trillion password guesses per seconds, it can work through ALL 10 character passwords in less than a year. Make a passphrase that is 15+ characters longs and creative.
It also has all the tools you need like PGP. Pity it does not have a bitcoin client built in, but I can see why. The lightweight clients that don't require huge amounts of disk space have privacy issues.
Yeah, that's valid. Also I recall that slothrop is running a low performance setup.. In that case a live usb may be his only real option performance-wise.
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I'm all for security and learning how things work and all, but again: I'm really not sure you want to dive in to a Linux distribution without a pull-and-install package manager like Ubuntu has. I've never used TAILS though, so maybe it's nothing like Linux from Scratch or Slackware or Archlinux or whatever else people are passing around these days. It's awfully hard to learn when you know so little you have no clue where to start though.
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I'm all for security and learning how things work and all, but again: I'm really not sure you want to dive in to a Linux distribution without a pull-and-install package manager like Ubuntu has. I've never used TAILS though, so maybe it's nothing like Linux from Scratch or Slackware or Archlinux or whatever else people are passing around these days. It's awfully hard to learn when you know so little you have no clue where to start though.
Tails is pretty hands off actually, almost to a fault. I really like it as an amnesiac usb for other machines, but that's about it..
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If this is your first time with Linux, I'll recommend Linux Mint. That was my start and made the transition from Windows to a non-Windows OS very smooth. It's a great fully-featured distro that doesn't run too heavy, and is greatly easy to customize to your tastes.
Second choice after that in my book is openSUSE, undoubtedly my favourite distro.
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If this is your first time with Linux, I'll recommend Linux Mint. That was my start and made the transition from Windows to a non-Windows OS very smooth. It's a great fully-featured distro that doesn't run too heavy, and is greatly easy to customize to your tastes.
Second choice after that in my book is openSUSE, undoubtedly my favourite distro.
Mint is a really good recommendation. For my part, I know all the linux snobs hate it.. and yes I know that there are valid reasons, but I have to recommend Ubuntu for new linux user. It's actually really accessible and has a solid future.. kind of like what you are getting at with Mint i think.
Actually, now that I'm putting ubuntu on my nexus 7, and with ubuntu hitting phones in oct. I feel a little stronger against all the Unity haters out there. The concept of a transmuting os seems pretty cool to me. I actually haven't tried openSUSE yet.. perhaps that'll be next.
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ever tried ubuntu on a shitty computer? no workie, at least not in any capacity you would want to use it.
like i have said before, if you just want to get into linux on your crappy laptop. use lubuntu it has MINIMUM requirements, i think it boots using less than 200mb ram on my netbook and has a simple non taxing desktop environment. once you love linux on your laptop install full ubuntu on your normal computer, dual boot with windows for your own comfort, but soon you will boot less and less into windows, especially when you learn how to use virtual machines.
if you want anonymity which will GREATLY reduce the usability of the OS then use tails it is updated regularly.
i recommend downloading BOTH install lubuntu on your hdd, get a usb for tails.
with lubuntu you can install tor browser for anon usage but more configuration is really required to make the computer really safe for illicit online use, this is the purpose of pre configured operating systems like tails.
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ever tried ubuntu on a shitty computer? no workie, at least not in any capacity you would want to use it.
like i have said before, if you just want to get into linux on your crappy laptop. use lubuntu it has MINIMUM requirements, i think it boots using less than 200mb ram on my netbook and has a simple non taxing desktop environment. once you love linux on your laptop install full ubuntu on your normal computer, dual boot with windows for your own comfort, but soon you will boot less and less into windows, especially when you learn how to use virtual machines.
if you want anonymity which will GREATLY reduce the usability of the OS then use tails it is updated regularly.
i recommend downloading BOTH install lubuntu on your hdd, get a usb for tails.
with lubuntu you can install tor browser for anon usage but more configuration is really required to make the computer really safe for illicit online use, this is the purpose of pre configured operating systems like tails.
Word. Good suggestions
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If you use virtualization, how do you manage the networking? Do you use for any virtual machine, e.g. Liberte Linux / TAILS, the same interface or do you use external one's (Alfa AWUS036 etc.)?
What do you think of the following tutorial? http://clsvtzwzdgzkjda7.onion/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3564
I'm especially interested in the firewall configuration etc.
Does some use a similiar setup?
Oh and by the way, VirtualBox vs. VMware Workstation? Your opinions, ladies and gentlemen.
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Never used VMWare. It's one of the big names though, so I assume it's competitive with VirtualBox. Again, I can't even enable the Windows Aero theme without my screen glitching all over the place though, so perhaps I'm not well informed. I get a real kick out of the "seamless" mode of VirtualBox though. It just makes me giggle when the virtual desktop disappears and the only thing left in my window manager are my native Linux applications and the 100% Windows programs running in the same place on the same desktop as though they were compiled and linked against the same Linux libraries.
(seamless mode hides the virtual desktop and only leaves the windows of the programs you explicitly run showing almost like you've got two operating systems in one -- it's kind of cool; I never actually use it, but it's still pretty cool). I don't demand too much from my VMs. Just keep them around for compatibility testing cross platform software and the occasional task that's more convenient to load up a VM for than reboot into another OS, etc.. That said, I have no problems with VirtualBox. Quite fond of it.
As for your link... too lazy right now. Sorry. I just use the DNS forwarding function for networking in VMs. Never have gotten the bridged adapter to work properly and let me connect to my Linux Tor from within my VM -- always have to either shut it down and run the Windows version for my Windows VM programs -- but supposedly you can do that if you want to. Just share the interface as though both operating systems were nothing but userspace programs calling some hidden OS to do the low-level work with the driver, etc..
Virtual Machines really are pretty damn crazy. I've never actually written one, so maybe it's not as impressive as it looks from my perspective, but just that one little thing in itself is a nice trick -- managing to share hardware between two operating systems, one running on top of the other, with the virtual one thinking it's using the same drivers as ever when in reality the native OS is driving the hardware and the virtual one is getting nothing but bogus data and making bogus calls to physical devices that are actually just fake.
It's probably even harder than it sounds...
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If you are asking about routing all your traffic you use in virtualbox through tor to prevent any dns leaks and the like, thats and excellent question. and from the brief reading i did on that link it looks like they are setting up a hidden truecrypt volume, and really just looks like a shit load of setup. making a tor middle box is easier than doing all that bs.
your looking for something like this if i understand right.
http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-set-up-a-tor-middlebox-routing-all-virtualbox-virtual-machine-traffic-over-the-tor-network
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Just select to use host only routing with virtual box, the default virtual network adapters internal address is 192.168.56.1
configure Torrc for Tor on the host :
SocksListenAddress 192.168.56.1
SocksPort 9100
after the virtual machine with that network adapter is started the virtual network adapter comes into existence, and at this point you can launch Tor. Now from inside the VM you can configure applications to use 192.168.56.1:9100 for SOCKS connections. Now it is not possible for the virtual machine to access the internet other than via the Tor on the host, and additionally even if the VM is rooted by a hacker they only get an internal IP address and not your external IP address. They are also kept away from Tor entirely, as it runs on the host, and so they cannot see your entry guards to deanonymize you by fucking with Tor.
Thanks to the browser bundle bullshit you will need to either compile Tor Browser (pain in the ass) in the VM independently of its bundled components, or you can configure browser bundle Tor in the VM to use Socks5Proxy 192.168.56.1:9100 which causes the Tor in the VM to connect via Tor on the host, this is enough for an internet connection and for the bundled Tor Browser to launch, then you can either use Tor Via Tor (which can have unintended effects on anonymity when connecting to clear net but shouldn't have risk of being detrimental if you only connect to hidden services) , or after Tor Browser pops up you can configure it manually to use the Tor on the host. But you still need the Tor in the VM running even if you don't use it for anything, because Tor Project cares more about hand holding noobs than they do offering independent tools for experts to configure into superior to default setups.
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I posted this about 12 hours ago and it didn't go through. Let's try this again...
If you use virtualization, how do you manage the networking? Do you use for any virtual machine, e.g. Liberte Linux / TAILS, the same interface or do you use external one's (Alfa AWUS036 etc.)?
What do you think of the following tutorial? http://clsvtzwzdgzkjda7.onion/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3564
I'm especially interested in the firewall configuration etc.
Does some use a similiar setup?
Oh and by the way, VirtualBox vs. VMware Workstation? Your opinions, ladies and gentlemen.
Like SelfSovereignty, I can't really comment on the different between the two because I've only used VMWare, and I use Player (the free one), not Workstation. I would probably give VirtualBox a try if I wasn't already committed to VMWare. I can tell you a bit about VMWare though.
About the networking, you have some options as to which way you can do it. There's a NAT mode where the host operating system basically routes to the guest operating system which doesn't have an actual IP address on the network. Then there's bridge mode where the guest operating system has a separate IP address to connect directly to the network with the same network card. The interface for the guest OS will be called vmnet1 or something like that but it's pretty much linked directly to the same hardware. In either case, the firewall on the host OS will affect data originating from or destined for the guest OS and it's easy to make rules specifically affecting that traffic if you want. None of my firewall rules specify interfaces (though now that I think about it, I should probably add one to allow all traffic on the loopback interface) so Linux and Windows are basically behind the same firewall in addition to the DD-WRT firewall on my router. I think there's a third network option too but I can't think of it right now.
I do really like VMWare. It is resource intensive since, after all, you are running two operating systems at the same time so you have to have a pretty good rig and you may have to use an older version of Windows than you would otherwise be able to use on that system. The program is pretty magnificent though. You can set how much resources the guest OS uses, such as memory and processor cores. It can attach cd-roms and USB devices directly to the guest OS or set an image file to be emulated as a drive. You can set it so that it maps a given directory in the host OS to a drive in the guest OS. The desktop can either be in full screen mode (you may forget it's even running in Linux) or in windowed mode. It doesn't have the seamless mode that SelfSovereignty mentions but he also says he never uses it anyway... When installing a new OS, for the more common ones you can choose what you're installing and it will automatically configure certain things for you although the lack of such an option didn't make it hard to install and use Haiku. You are very unlikely to run into a problem of an application not wanting to install and run unlike with Wine.
One bad thing about VMWare though is that when the 3.2 kernel came out, it didn't support it for several months so you were stuck with either using an older kernel or doing without VMWare. I was rather annoyed that it took them so long to fix the issue. That's the one issue I've ever had and right now, it's working fine.
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From a user friendliness and feature rich point of view, VMware is the winner. I am pretty sure VMware has a seamless mode that is actually seamless, versus Virtualboxes shit seamless mode that essentially just makes the desktop transparent / removes it (but still has its own application bar etc instead of integrating with the hosts).
From a security point of view Virtualbox is superior, primarily because it is open source and VMware is not.
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Wow. VMWare is *that* closed source -- I mean the kernel modules don't even get compiled on the host OS? Even NVIDIA drivers are compiled for the local kernel... whenever I upgrade my kernel, I just have VirtualBox recompile its modules and it works every time regardless of the version. I mean sometimes I have to tell it where the source headers are or something, but it's surprisingly easy. It can also do everything you listed, snailgod, except for the mapping a folder to a folder -- it may be able to do that, but I don't know how. My host drive appears as a network attached drive in the guest OS.
Thanks for the info kmfkewm; I'll get that up and running the next time I feel like playing around :)
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One bad thing about VMWare though is that when the 3.2 kernel came out, it didn't support it for several months so you were stuck with either using an older kernel or doing without VMWare. I was rather annoyed that it took them so long to fix the issue. That's the one issue I've ever had and right now, it's working fine.
That's ridiculous.
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Thank you very much for the advice, guys.
Well, I'll definitely try out VMware Workstation, I've tried VirtualBox on a Linux host (Debian based), but I've had my problems with it.
And since VMware is such a big name, I hope that it'll work.
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Im not very good when it comes to computers / security ect..
But I have found that setting up tails on a live USB stick has been fairly simple and think it is a very safe way to access onion sites as you are automatically torrified at connection and cant mess up settings ect like on the browser bundle.