There are a number of common command line operations that are performed by users of all skill levels in the Whonix environment. This wiki page is intended to serve as a quick and handy reference guide for locating these, but it is not a substitute for reading relevant wiki entries that provide detailed instructions for various activities. ^[1] Additional, useful commands will be added here over time.

Whonix-Gateway^™[edit]

Table: Whonix-Gateway Common Commands

Category	Commands
Change Keyboard Layout	To change the keyboard layout: sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-data Make the reconfigured keyboard-configuration change take effect: sudo setupcon
Circumvent uwt Wrapper Use ^[2]	/usr/bin/apt-get.anondist-orig /usr/bin/wget.anondist-orig /usr/bin/curl.anondist-orig /usr/bin/gpg.anondist-orig /usr/bin/ssh.anondist-orig
Connection Wizard (Enable/Disable Tor)	lxsudo anon-connection-wizard sudo setup-wizard-dist
Default Username and Password ^[3]	Default username: `user` Default password: `changeme`
Important Configuration Files / Folders	Important configuration files: sudoedit /usr/local/etc/torrc.d/50_user.conf sudoedit /etc/whonix_firewall.d/50_user.conf Important configuration folders: /etc/whonix_firewall.d/
Important Logs	sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog sdwdate-log-viewer sudo tail -f /var/run/tor/log
Nyx: Tor Command Line Monitor ^[4]	Launch Nyx: nyx
OS Updates	upgrade-nonroot or sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
Switch to Clearnet User ^[5]	sudo su clearnet
systemcheck	Network Time Synchronization and Tor Connection Check: systemcheck
Time	Report the date in UTC: date -u Manually set the system clock: sudo date -s "17 FEB 2019 24:00:00" && sudo hwclock -w Randomize the time: ^[6] ^[7] `clock-random-manual-gui`: a randomized clock setting (in UTC) is entered via a GUI. `clock-random-manual-cli`: a randomized clock setting (in UTC) is entered on the command line. For example: echo "Wed Dec 04 06:20:13 UTC 2019" \| /usr/bin/clock-random-manual-cli
Tor	Restart Network: sudo service networking restart Restart Tor: sudo service tor restart Stop Tor: sudo systemctl stop tor@default Check the Tor version: anon-info Check the Tor configuration: anon-verify sudo -u debian-tor tor --verify-config
Virtual Consoles	Text console: Press `Alt + Crtl + F1` Additional text consoles: Press `Alt + Crtl + F2` or `F3` and so on. Graphical console: Press `Alt + Crtl + F7`
VM Operations	Reboot: sudo reboot Power off: sudo poweroff
Whonix Version	Whonix version: cat /etc/whonix_version

Whonix-Workstation[edit]

Table: Whonix-Workstation Common Commands

Category	Commands
Change Keyboard Layout	sudo dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration sudo dpkg-reconfigure console-data
Circumvent uwt Wrapper Use ^[2]	/usr/bin/apt-get.anondist-orig /usr/bin/wget.anondist-orig /usr/bin/curl.anondist-orig /usr/bin/gpg.anondist-orig /usr/bin/git.anondist-orig /usr/bin/ssh.anondist-orig
Default Username and Password ^[3]	Default username: `user` Default password: `changeme`
DNS Resolution Functionality Test	nslookup check.torproject.org
GnuPG (OpenPGP)	Retrieve keys (example): Display key fingerprint (example): sudo apt-key adv --fingerprint A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 Check file signatures (example): gpg --verify tor-browser-linux64-8.5_en-US.tar.xz.asc tor-browser-linux64-8.5_en-US.tar.xz
HexChat	Reset HexChat identity: hexchat-reset
Important Configuration Folders and Logs	Important configuration folders: /etc/whonix_firewall.d/ Important logs: sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog sdwdate-log-viewer
Leak Test ^[8]	leaktest
Network Restart	sudo service networking restart
OS Updates / Software Installation	upgrade-nonroot or sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade Install the `package-name` package. sudo apt install package-name Install the `package-name` package from Debian backports. Requires enabling backports repository. sudo apt -t bookworm-backports install package-name
systemcheck	Network Time Synchronization and Tor Connection Check: ^[9] systemcheck
Time	Manually set the system clock: sudo date -s "17 FEB 2019 24:00:00" && sudo hwclock -w
Tor Browser	Note: Tor Browser can only be started when a graphical desktop environment (DE) such as Xfce is running (Whonix Xfce). At time of writing Tor Browser cannot be run without a running DE (Whonix CLI without a custom installed DE). However, graphical applications such as Tor Browser can be started from command line when a DE is running. ^[10] Important folders: `~/.tb/tor-browser` `~/.tb/tor-browser/Browser/TorBrowser/Data/Browser` Tor Browser Launcher: torbrowser Tor Browser in debugging mode: ~/.tb/tor-browser/Browser/start-tor-browser --debug Tor Browser Downloader by Whonix developers: update-torbrowser
Virtual Consoles	Text console: Press `Alt + Crtl + F1` Additional text consoles: Press `Alt + Crtl + F2` or `F3` and so on. Graphical console: Press `Alt + Crtl + F7`
VM Operations	Reboot: sudo reboot Power off: sudo poweroff
Whonix Version	Whonix version: cat /etc/whonix_version

Footnotes[edit]

↑ This entry has been inspired by the relatively unknown whonix command, which already lists common Whonix command line operations.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Experts / debugging only!
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 For both Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation^™.
↑ This is a Tor Controller which runs as a console application.
↑
The whonix DNS notes state:
Check if DNS resolution is functional:
- Experts only!
- This is only a summary.
- You normally do not need to manually resolve DNS on Whonix-Gateway.
- Whonix has by default a feature to hide the fact, that you are a Whonix user.
- This will NOT hide the fact that you are a Tor user from your ISP! -- Hiding the fact, that you are a Tor user, is available as an optional configuration.
- Whonix-Workstations traffic goes through Tors Socks-, Dns- or TransPorts.
- Whonix-Gateway can only send traffic through Tor as well.
-- Whonix-Gateway has no longer a Trans- or DnsPort.
-- For example, APT will actually call the uwt wrapper /usr/bin/apt-get.
-- The APT uwt wrapper will with help of uwt and torsocks force also Whonix-Gateways traffic through Tor.
-- Thus hiding the fact, that you are a Whonix user.
- Only as either,
- as clearnet user or
- after activation of transparent proxying for Whonix-Gateway
- in /etc/whonix_firewall.d/ or
- after allowing Whonix-Gateways root sending non-Tor traffic in /etc/whonix_firewall.d/
- nslookup check.torproject.org
↑ A non-zero exit codes signifies an error, while 0 means it succeeded.
↑ Also see: man clock-random-manual-gui man clock-random-manual-cli
↑ See: Leak Tests
↑ Additionallly in Whonix-Workstation, notifications are made regarding OS updates, the Whonix version and news.
↑ https://forums.whonix.org/t/tor-browser-on-whonix-workstation-cli/10020/8

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[1] This entry has been inspired by the relatively unknown whonix command, which already lists common Whonix command line operations.

[experts_only-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Experts / debugging only!

[both_VMs-3] 3.0 ^3.1 For both Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation^™.

[4] This is a Tor Controller which runs as a console application.

[5] The whonix DNS notes state:
Check if DNS resolution is functional:
Experts only!

This is only a summary.

You normally do not need to manually resolve DNS on Whonix-Gateway.

Whonix has by default a feature to hide the fact, that you are a Whonix user.

- This will NOT hide the fact that you are a Tor user from your ISP! -- Hiding the fact, that you are a Tor user, is available as an optional configuration.

Whonix-Workstations traffic goes through Tors Socks-, Dns- or TransPorts.

- Whonix-Gateway can only send traffic through Tor as well.
-- Whonix-Gateway has no longer a Trans- or DnsPort.
-- For example, APT will actually call the uwt wrapper /usr/bin/apt-get.
-- The APT uwt wrapper will with help of uwt and torsocks force also Whonix-Gateways traffic through Tor.
-- Thus hiding the fact, that you are a Whonix user.

Only as either,

- as clearnet user or
- after activation of transparent proxying for Whonix-Gateway
- in /etc/whonix_firewall.d/ or
- after allowing Whonix-Gateways root sending non-Tor traffic in /etc/whonix_firewall.d/

nslookup check.torproject.org

[6] Experts only!

[7] This is only a summary.

[8] You normally do not need to manually resolve DNS on Whonix-Gateway.

[9] Whonix has by default a feature to hide the fact, that you are a Whonix user.

[10] Whonix-Workstations traffic goes through Tors Socks-, Dns- or TransPorts.

[11] Only as either,

[12] slookup check.torproject.org

[6] A non-zero exit codes signifies an error, while 0 means it succeeded.

[7] Also see: man clock-random-manual-gui man clock-random-manual-cli

[8] See: Leak Tests

[9] Additionallly in Whonix-Workstation, notifications are made regarding OS updates, the Whonix version and news.

[10] ttps://forums.whonix.org/t/tor-browser-on-whonix-workstation-cli/10020/8

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Common Whonix CLI Commands

Contents

Whonix-Gateway^™[edit]

Whonix-Workstation[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

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Common Whonix CLI Commands

Whonix-Gateway™[edit]

Whonix-Workstation[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

Navigation menu

Search

Whonix-Gateway^™[edit]