Commit `18b93c1c57`

18b93c1c577aab687a99c844e356f3bc2a330647

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cmc <hello@cleberg.net> · 2025-12-06 21:09 UTC

publish new post: self-hosting-tor

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content/blog/2025-12-06-self-hosting-tor.org added +115

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	1	#+date: <2025-12-06 Sat 14:13:00>
	2	#+title: Self-Hosting Guide: Tor Websites
	3	#+description: Learn how to host your own website on Tor with an Onion Address in a few short steps!
	4	#+slug: self-hosting-tor
	5
	6	* Installation
	7
	8	First, install the Tor package. I'm using Ubuntu, so I'll be using =apt= to
	9	install Tor.
	10
	11	#+begin_src sh
	12	sudo apt install tor
	13	#+end_src
	14
	15	* Configuration
	16
	17	** Tor
	18	Next, let's configure the service we'll be serving via Tor. For this, edit the
	19	file below and add the lines below to the end of the file.
	20
	21	#+begin_src sh
	22	sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc
	23	#+end_src
	24
	25	The following lines you add to the file will define the directory to use and the
	26	internet protocol (IP) address and port we will be using.
	27
	28	#+begin_src text
	29	HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/
	30	HiddenServicePort 80 127.0.0.1:5000
	31	#+end_src
	32
	33	Next, you will need to =cat= the contents of the file below to find the onion
	34	address provided to you.
	35
	36	#+begin_src sh
	37	sudo cat /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/hostname
	38	#+end_src
	39
	40	** Nginx
	41
	42	With this onion address handy, create a file in your Nginx configuration
	43	directory. Mine is =conf.d=, but yours may be =sites-available=. If that's the
	44	case, don't forget to create a symbolic link from the file you created in
	45	=sites-available= to =sites-enabled=.
	46
	47	#+begin_src sh
	48	sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/tor-website.conf
	49	#+end_src
	50
	51	Within this Nginx configuration file, I will be using the file below. I have
	52	left comments to explain each part.
	53
	54	#+begin_src conf
	55	server {
	56	# The IP address and port Nginx will listen on
	57	listen 127.0.0.1:80;
	58	# The onion address to listen for
	59	server_name sv3g2dlyvwyk2nvi3eeh55fcrpdvjlclhi6wwsx57cste6lwdjanzyyd.onion;
	60	# The directory where your website files are
	61	root /var/www/tor-website/;
	62
	63	# By default, try to serve the files. Return 404 if a file is not found.
	64	location / {
	65	try_files $uri $uri/ =404;
	66	}
	67
	68	# Put any other configurations here at the end, such as redirects
	69	# ...
	70	}
	71	#+end_src
	72
	73	Finally, we can restart the services and check to see if it's working.
	74
	75	#+begin_src sh
	76	sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
	77	sudo systemctl restart tor.service
	78	#+end_src
	79
	80	At this point, you should be able to view your Onion address in Tor.
	81
	82	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251206-self-hosting-tor/onion.webp]]
	83	#+caption: Onion Address in Tor
	84
	85	** Onion-Location
	86
	87	Lastly, let's advertise the =Onion-Location= on our clearnet website so that
	88	users on Tor can automatically switch to the Onion address if they want to.
	89
	90	#+begin_src sh
	91	sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/regular_website.conf
	92	#+end_src
	93
	94	#+begin_src conf
	95	server {
	96	server_name example.com;
	97	add_header Onion-Location http://YourOnionAddress.onion$request_uri;
	98	}
	99	#+end_src
	100
	101	Once complete, restart Nginx.
	102
	103	#+begin_src sh
	104	sudo systemctl restart nginx.service
	105	#+end_src
	106
	107	You should now see a big purple button in Tor titled =.onion available= when
	108	visiting the clearnet web page.
	109
	110	[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20251206-self-hosting-tor/clearnet.webp]]
	111	#+caption: Onion-Location Button
	112
	113	If everything worked, you're all done! You now have a website served via an
	114	onion address on Tor and an Onion-Location header advertising your new onion
	115	address.

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