Tor Browser: Manual Download
Tor Browser is installed by default inside Whonix. It is usually updated using its own internal updater.
Tor Browser Downloader (by Whonix developers) can be used to re-install Tor Browser.
Manually downloading Tor Browser is also possible, which is documented on this wiki page. This might useful in case Tor Browser Downloader is ever broken.
Introduction[edit]
- Non-Whonix Platforms: If Firefox is available and Tor Browser is to be installed on a non-Whonix platform, proceed to Download and Install Tor Browser. Otherwise, first install Firefox on the respective platform and configure the setting for clearnet onion connections, if desired.
- Whonix: If Tor Browser is not installed, then it can be downloaded by using Firefox-ESR. Only complete this action for downloading Tor Browser and nothing else.
Manually Downloading Tor Browser[edit]
Install Firefox-ESR Web Browser[edit]
1. Is a functional browser already available?
- If yes: This browser installation chapter can be skipped.
- If no: A functional browser is recommended to be installed to able to follow further instructions.
2. Note: Firefox-ESR is used as en example here. Any browser should work.
3. Install Firefox-ESR.
In Whonix-Workstation™ terminal, run.
Install package(s) firefox-esr
following these instructions
1 Platform specific notice.
- Non-Qubes-Whonix: No special notice.
- Qubes-Whonix: In Template.
2 Update the package lists and upgrade the system .
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade
3 Install the firefox-esr
package(s).
Using apt
command line
--no-install-recommends
option
is in most cases optional.
sudo apt install --no-install-recommends firefox-esr
4 Platform specific notice.
- Non-Qubes-Whonix: No special notice.
- Qubes-Whonix: Shut down Template and restart App Qubes based on it as per Qubes Template Modification .
5 Done.
The procedure of installing package(s) firefox-esr
is complete.
4. Optional: Configure clearnet onion service connections.
If users intend to connect to the Tor Project's onion service to download Tor Browser, then adjust the following Firefox-ESR setting to permit these connections.
In Firefox address bar: about:config
→ I accept the risk!
→ network.dns.blockDotOnion
→ toggle to false
.
5. Done.
Browser installation completed. Please proceed with instructions below.
Download and Install Tor Browser[edit]
- Make sure folder
/home/user/.tb
exists. mkdir --parents /home/user/.tb - Navigate to
https://www.torproject.org/download/
and download Tor Browser and the associated file signature (
.asc
). Store it in folder/home/user/.tb
. - Read
https://support.torproject.org/tbb/how-to-verify-signature/
and learn how to perform digital software signature verification ("
gpg
"). Download and import the necessary keys. - Perform digital software signature verification for the Tor Browser download.
- Navigate to folder
/home/user/.tb
with a file manger. Thunar example:Thunar
→View
→Show Hidden Files
- If the old version of Tor Browser is still open, close it.
- If there already is a folder
/home/user/.tb/tor-browser
, rename the old/home/user/.tb/tor-browser
to something else. - Extract Tor Browser:
Right-click on the downloaded archive
→extract
→extract archive here
- The process is complete.
- To start Tor Browser: [2]
- A) If intending to use a graphical user interface: Start Tor Browser from the start menu.
- B) If intending to use a terminal, run the following command: torbrowser
- C) Starting Tor Browser directly without Tor Browser Starter (
/usr/bin/torbrowser
) by Whonix: ~/.tb/tor-browser/Browser/start-tor-browser - D) Same as above in debug mode: ~/.tb/tor-browser/Browser/start-tor-browser --debug
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ Note on platform support: Qubes-Whonix™ and Non-Qubes-Whonix users should use the 64-bit version.
- ↑ Note this will not result in a Tor over Tor scenario when using Tor Browser. Whonix has a mechanism to disable Tor stacking.
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