Get Immediate Help and Contribute to Our New Support Wiki

by alison | August 7, 2017

Have you ever had a question about Tor, and wondered where you could turn for assistance? Or taught someone about Tor and then struggled to answer their questions about why it does what it does? Well, today, we launched a new resource to help. The Tor support wiki is a place to find questions and answers on some of the most frequently asked questions about Tor -- and then some. 

We've tried many avenues of support

Providing good support to Tor users is important to us, so it's something we've wanted to offer more consistently. For a while, we had a help desk staffed with volunteers, but it received a volume of questions too large for those volunteers to keep up with. Lots of people ask and receive solid answers on IRC, but it takes a certain level of technical proficiency to get on IRC in the first place, and many of you aren't there. Tor forums on Reddit and Stack Exchange are not official Tor Project channels, and so Tor people only contribute to them in ad-hoc ways. We've tried to keep up FAQ-style documents on our website, but it's been difficult to maintain multiple texts in different places, and lots of those documents have lacked updates for a while. 

This resource can evolve to meet your needs

The support wiki attempts to solve some of these problems by being a canonical location for the most common questions and answers related to using Tor, in a location that can be updated by multiple core contributors. This is an organic document, and we invite your feedback in the comments below on what we've got so far. We hope to add lots more to this page in the coming weeks and months.

Eventually, this material will be available on a searchable support portal that will be launched when we redesign our website. 

We look forward to your input as we work to make the support wiki into a comprehensive resource for all Tor users. 

Comments

Please note that the comment area below has been archived.

Craig (not verified) said:

August 09, 2017

Permalink

Hello
Yes I have checked out the wiki. Unfortunately even that is beyond my current capacity to understand.
I would really like to donate bandwith for Tor. i simply I have not been able to make it happen.
I got as far as copy and paste the commands in the torrc file. It didn't work. Now I can't find the torrc file at all.
I have an iMac using OS Sierra 10.12.6.
I would really appreciate help in configuring my system to act as a relay. Seems only just as Tor is free and protects our privacy and freedom.

Anonymous (not verified) said:

August 07, 2017

Permalink

Can hidden services be impersonated? I saw arguments they can, but no clarification from a Tor developer. The argument is hidden services can be impersonated because the addresses have low entropy. Facebook can even get address like facebookcorewwwi.onion.

The very short answer is no, not in any practical way. You're right that legacy onion addresses (the ones that are only 16 characters, as opposed to the upcoming stronger ones) are uncomfortably short, but the main worry is that it's conceivable that somebody with a huge computer could create a collision, that is, create two onion service keys that both map to a single onion address. Or to say it another way, it's possible that somebody could carefully craft two onion keys with the goal of one of them "impersonating" the other. The effort to produce such a collision is 2^40 keys.

But that's very different from taking a particular target onion address, and generating a new onion service key that will trick people into thinking they're going to the target address. Doing that (it's called a "preimage attack") should take about 2^80 keys before you get one that works.

For the Facebook address in particular, check out "part three" in this blog post:
https://blog.torproject.org/blog/facebook-hidden-services-and-https-cer…

But all of this said, the legacy onion addresses are uncomfortably weak: even though we don't know of specific attacks that we think are practical today, we expect things to look worse over the next several years. Once the new-style onion service design is more stable, I expect many people will switch to it.

cypherpunks (not verified) said:

August 07, 2017

Permalink

Hello @alison! Thanks for all of the work you pour on Tor, I know that you get a fair bit of unjustified hate but know that you're one of the finest Tor people out there! Keep up the great work! :)

Also the "Can I use Tor with some other web browser?" in the wiki seems to be duplicated.

Anonymous (not verified) said:

August 07, 2017

Permalink

I logged into trac but I don't see the "Edit this page" button below!! How can I contribute to the support wiki then?! (In my perfect world the support page would be in a github repo in .md and people would post PR that get merged or not, hope you do the same since that's better - at least IMHO)

Anonymous (not verified) said:

August 07, 2017

Permalink

I liked the response to the question from a horrified victim of ransomware, but have some doubts about the current response to this question:

> How do I run an exit relay on Debian?

Tor depends upon the willingness of brave people to run exit relays. However, the offered response to the quoted question should probably caution that at least in some countries (including the US), people who ran Tor exit nodes from their homes have been raided by "the authorities", even though the agents were very likely well aware that Tor node operators do not know what traffice their nodes carry and cannot be held responsible for any "bad actors" some of whose circuits just happen to include their node.

running a relay is well explained and 'the authorities' is not a problem even in russia or u.a or e.u ...
if it is prohibited, you could not ; and if it is allowed you will be in front of 2 real problem :
- isp (some restrict the access).
- rotten civil servant (blackmail then ... the worst).
it is the reason why it is reserved for large groups, firms, enterprises or communities who are organized and can afford it (bandwidth) : as individual , i do not know if it is a good idea , sharing is not so easy ...
and in front of 2 misunderstanding :
- encryption & freedom of speech are not a right and not at all related at a democracy status.
- they are the owners & the manufacturers of your p.c and almost all the infrastructure.
it is the reason why Tor team & another organizations promote & prospect support : the more Tor is living the more the authorities is accepting a digital life as a reflect of a genuine right.
i wonder if & when Tor could be run inserting an usb key in the router (isp propriety) or could be implemented/configured as an option in the router (isp propriety) ...
i would like add that a lot of money are given & stolen using the web so , 'the authorities' are not against the users (censorship/restricted access) but do want control them/data because the users cannot (civil rights) prove that that it is :
- their.
- a value.
it is the reason why running a relay protects you against these predators.

doityourself (not verified) said:

August 08, 2017

Permalink

Tor wiki is not updated & does not answer at simple questions.
Tor blog is not updated (7.0.4 is ready but network.IDN_show_punycode is set to false).
* Las vegas 2017 was not commented.

Hi, can you tell us what you're referring to on the wiki that needs an update, and what questions you think are missing? We came up with these based on questions we frequently receive from users, but it's very likely that we missed some and that's why we asked for feedback above!

nooby (not verified) said:

August 09, 2017

Permalink

Hi, can you tell us what you're referring to on the wiki that needs an update, and what questions you think are missing?
- Short answer : it is not about questions ; it is a matter of direct responses.
- Long answer : kiss issue (kiss means "Keep It Simple, Stupid" = basic rule).

A wiki is not a summary of your good intentions & not a picture introducing your efforts, labors, pain or sponsors : it must be neutral, clear, verified, where; from the beginner to the experimented used, from the simple mind to the person hurry or in danger; you can find an easy & quick answer.
A wiki must include tips & tricks :
tip : you must enable cookies for posting on the torblog.
(right click on the info icon and check Menu Bar then edit/preference/privacy : uncheck accept cookies = no _ check accept cookies/never = yes and uncheck when you are finished then reload)
tip : pls do not let your email when you post & do not write @ (it means a personal message to the tor team) ; send them a pgp e-mail or open a blog.
tip : do not use your own email address when posting, take a valid one from a mailing-list e.g.
tricks :
.com is an usa domain propriety
https://www.encrypted.google.com/
https://www.nounplus.net/spellcheck/
https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2017/04/chrome-firefox-unicode-phishing/
https://www.iplocation.net/verify-email-address
------------------------------------------------------------------
versions(advices missing)
- Tb(gui_stable_surf_recommended)
(so posting is not an anonymous attitude !)
-sandbox(cli_experimental_secure version_can't find the page/address !)
(so why the sandbox could contain bugs and is not the recommended version !)
- Tb(unstable_only for finding/testing bugs)
(so how do i find bugs & how do i test & report it ?)

download & verification
-from a depo : outdated (easy,quick)
-from Torproject : updated (open your terminal & verify it with the pgpkey)

before the install:during the install:after the install
- before the install (with a vpn or not _ advices missing) :
-you must change your dns (google dns 8.8.8.8 is a stupid idea),
-you must configure your firewall (pgpkey 11371 & https 443 e.g.),
-you must install dependencies like sks e.g.

- during the install:
-you must set noscript,
-you must set https_everywhere (check 'block all unencrypted requests'),
(advices missing)_(observatory or not ? default = OCSP or not ? where is dane or an alternative implemented as option ?),
-you must set Search settings (uncheck twitter if you do not use it e.g.),
-you must set cookies (default always),
-you must set security settings,
(advices missing)_(about:config or not ? not recommended but security alert could change your mind _puny_code e.g.),
-you must reload/restart Tor.

- after the install:
-you must check if Tor is really running,
-you must wait that the page be finished to be reloaded (icon visible on the lelt top corner) before clicking on another link/typing.
(advices missing)_('new identity' or 'new circuit' ?),
-you must add a bridge if you can't connect (afaik does not work with 0.0.9 sandbox !)
-you must use onion.
(advices missing)_(why ? is it not yet set ?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
bonus : i wonder if i must ask for permission to trump ... yes, you can , send him an e-mail/a tweet !

Joe (not verified) said:

August 09, 2017

Permalink

Hello. Could you please clarify why only Riseup, Gmail and Yahoo accounts can be used to get bridges via email? What stops an adversary that is able to manually register e.g. 100 gmail accounts from getting most of the bridges? Given that bridge count of 3k, and even ignoring the fact that not all of them delivered over email, this results in only 30 bridges per account.

Bramir (not verified) said:

August 09, 2017

Permalink

Hello!

please forgive my poor english, is not my mothers language

I have a problem with uploading images to my image hoster
rajce.idnes.cz. We have uploaded our holiday fotos of 2016 last
year in june. Last weekend we had selected a set of fotos of
this years holidays to upload. But funny thing is, it does not
work now with torbrowser. It seems to upload but then in the
fotogaleria there are only wite rectangles, not the fotos.

We tried another browser with not tor and uploading is ok.
Now we wondering why. Last year ther was a much older
browser version of tor in use then today. But we thought
newer = better.

Have you any ideas? Something to adjust in the noscript button or so?

thank you for reading.

Cameron (not verified) said:

August 09, 2017

Permalink

Hi all, looking for some help as my Tor browser has recently starting crashing whenever I open it. The message given is "Tor Browser quit unexpectedly. Click Reopen to open the application again. Click Report to see more detailed information and send a report to Apple." Unfortunately I'm not the most technically minded, the report is beyond my understanding. Any suggestions of what I could try? Thanks

Sebaschan (not verified) said:

August 11, 2017

Permalink

I'm having trouble with the Tor browser, every time I try to get onto it, it works just fine until it hits "Establishing a tor circuit" and never goes farther into loading it. ive left it for hours and it did not go any further, so idk whats happening, and this is the Tor log if that helps:

8/11/2017 15:05:12 PM.700 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections.
8/11/2017 15:05:12 PM.700 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections.
8/11/2017 15:05:12 PM.700 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections.
8/11/2017 15:05:12 PM.700 [NOTICE] Opening Socks listener on *IP ADDRESS*
8/11/2017 15:05:13 PM.600 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 80%: Connecting to the Tor network
8/11/2017 15:05:13 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:13 PM.700 [NOTICE] Bootstrapped 85%: Finishing handshake with first hop
8/11/2017 15:05:14 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:15 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:16 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:17 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:18 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:19 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:20 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:21 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:22 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:23 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:24 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:25 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:26 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:27 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:28 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:29 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:30 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:31 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:32 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:33 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:34 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:35 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:36 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:37 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:38 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:39 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:40 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:41 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:42 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:43 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:44 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:45 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:46 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:47 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:48 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:49 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:50 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:51 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:52 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:53 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:54 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:55 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:56 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:57 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:58 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:05:59 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:00 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:01 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:02 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:03 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:04 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:05 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:06 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:07 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:08 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:09 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:10 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:11 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:12 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:13 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:14 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:15 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:16 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:17 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:18 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:19 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:20 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:21 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:22 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:23 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:24 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:25 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:26 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:27 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:28 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:29 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:30 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:31 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:32 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:33 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:34 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:35 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:36 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:37 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:38 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:39 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:40 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:41 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:42 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:43 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:44 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:45 PM.600 [WARN] Failed to find node for hop 0 of our path. Discarding this circuit.
8/11/2017 15:06:47 PM.100 [NOTICE] Closing no-longer-configured Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9150
8/11/2017 15:06:47 PM.100 [NOTICE] DisableNetwork is set. Tor will not make or accept non-control network connections. Shutting down all existing connections.
8/11/2017 15:06:47 PM.100 [NOTICE] Closing old Socks listener on *IP ADDRESS*
8/11/2017 15:06:47 PM.600 [NOTICE] Delaying directory fetches: DisableNetwork is set.