How to set Xubuntu VM to use TOR Whonix gateway

Default whonix workstation is based on 32-bit Debian 8.2. This is OK for most cases, since this Debian version is from 2015. However, the 32-bit version of Debian may limit some use cases. For example, its difficult to use Monero on a 32-bit Linux system. Monero works best with 64-bit operating systems. Also some people may not want to use Debian, and would like to use something else, such as Xubuntu 15.10 x64.

This example shows how to set-up Xubuntu 15.10 x64 in a VirtualBox so that its internet traffic goes through Whonix Tor gateway.

Please be aware, that not using official Whonix workstation may reduce your security and anonymity!

The steps here were executed on Ubuntu 14.04 x64 and VirtualBox 5.0.10, and are based on those described here. Probably there are better ways of doing things described below. But these steps were working for me, so hopefully they will work for you as well.

Step 1: Download Whonix Gateway VritualBox and Xubuntu images

For Whonix, go to the Whonix download website and download the latest gateway image. At the moment of writing this, it is called Whonix-Gateway-12.0.0.3.2.ova .

For Xubuntu, download xubuntu-15.10-desktop-amd64.iso from Xubuntu's download page.

## Step 2: Import Whonix workstation into VirtualBox.

In VirtualBox Manager: File->Import Appliance .

. Locate the Whonix-Gateway-12.0.0.3.2.ova downloaded.

downloaded. Follow the prompts to import the image.

Step 2: Install Xubuntu in the VirtualBox

Machine->New and follow the prompts. I recommend at least 2GB of RAM and at least 25 GB of disc space if you plan to use latest Monero in the VirtualBox.



and follow the prompts. I recommend at least 2GB of RAM and at least 25 GB of disc space if you plan to use latest Monero in the VirtualBox. Install Xubuntu as you would normally do it. In this example, I called it u1555.

Install any software you need now (e.g.,stuff needed to compile latest Monero, vim, etc.), before connecting the Xubuntu to the Whonix gateway. Its much faster now, than updating and install everything through tor.

You can also install guest additions if you want, to make the interacting with the Xubuntu VM easier.

Step 3: Change Xubuntu's network to use Whonix network

Machine->Settings->Network and change Adapter 1 from NAT into Internal Network.

and change Adapter 1 from NAT into Internal Network. Make sure that the Name is Whonix .

Step 4: Remove dhcp auto-configuraion packages from Xubuntu

You can make VirtualBox snapshot here, just in case something does not work later on, and you would like to undo the changes.

sudo apt-get remove isc-dhcp-client isc-dhcp-common network-manager network-manager-gnome resolvconf

Step 5: Check the Whonix Gateway IP and network subnet

Start the Whonix Gateway and follow the prompts. Once done, check the gateway IP address and network mask. I used the following command:

cat /etc/network/interfaces.d/30_non-qubes-whonix

From the output, we can see that the Whonix Gateway IP is 10.152.152.10 and network mask is 255.255.192.0 .

Step 6: Check the name of network interface in Xubuntu

ifconfig -a

Gives (part of the output shown):

enp0s3 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 08:00:27:73:b5:e3 BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:0 (0.0 B) TX bytes:0 (0.0 B)

So the interface name is enp0s3 .

Step 7: Make enp0s3 use Whonix gateway

Need to set static IP for Xubuntu to use Whonix network. Thus, we need IP of the form 10.152.152.xx where xx is more than 10. For example 10.152.152.15 .

sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces

add the following to the end:

auto enp0s3 iface enp0s3 inet static ## Increment last octet of address ## on optional additional workstations. # Xubuntu static IP address 10.152.152.15 # Whonix Network mask netmask 255.255.192.0 # Whonix gateway IP gateway 10.152.152.10

Also, a name server needs to be specified.

sudo nano /etc/resolv.conf

and add:

# Whonix gateway IP. nameserver 10.152.152.10

Step 8: Restart Xubuntu

Make sure Whonix Gateway is working and restart the Xubuntu. After that, Xubuntu should use the Whonix Gateway for all internet traffic.

And now everything should be OK. You can start firefox and check your IP address at tor check website or in a terminal using elinks or lynx .

For example:

elinks https://check.torproject.org/

Monero in Xubuntu VM through Whonix Gateway

Because we use Xubuntu 64-bit there is no issues with running latest Monero. How to compile it can be found at compile-monero-ubuntu-1510.

The only problem is initial synchronization, as it will take ages through tor. So better to download the current blockchain without tor before setting up the gateway or on other PC or VM that is not using Tor. Once the current blockchain is obtained it can be copied into Xubuntu VM.

Running the Monero node through tor does not take much bandwidth nor is slow, as it is done in real-time as blocks are coming. The only slow thing is the initial synchronization as it requires downloading ~8GB or more of data. Also, it wont be full node, as other nodes will not be able to connect to you.

How can you help?

Constructive criticism, code and website edits are always good. They can be made through github.

Some Monero are also welcome:

48daf1rG3hE1Txapcsxh6WXNe9MLNKtu7W7tKTivtSoVLHErYzvdcpea2nSTgGkz66RFP4GKVAsTV14v6G3oddBTHfxP6tU

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