What is Whonix-Workstation™?

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• What is Whonix-Gateway?
• What is Whonix-Workstation?
• Comparison of Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation

Whonix-Workstation Xfce VM running in the VirtualBox virtualizer (illustrative image)

Whonix-Workstation is a software component of Whonix designed to provide users with a secure and anonymous environment for running applications and performing online tasks.

Whonix-Workstation Overview

Whonix-Workstation is a software component of Whonix, which is designed to provide users with a secure and anonymous environment for running applications and performing online tasks. Once installed, Whonix-Workstation is connected to Whonix-Gateway, which runs Tor processes and acts as a gateway, while Whonix-Workstation runs user applications on a completely isolated network.

All user applications, such as Tor Browser, should be launched from Whonix-Workstation to ensure they utilize the Tor network, as only Tor connections are permitted. Whonix-Workstation also provides stream isolation for many pre-installed or custom-installed applications, such as Hexchat and Thunderbird, using a dedicated Tor SocksPort to prevent identity correlation that may otherwise occur.

Whonix-Workstation is already pre-configured for use with Whonix-Gateway. For a functional network connection, Whonix-Gateway must be started before Whonix-Workstation. However, if the startup sequence is reversed, Whonix-Workstation can only be used offline without a running Whonix-Gateway, as it will either use the Tor network or have no network connectivity at all.

Whonix is based on security-focused Linux Distribution Kicksecure^™ . To learn more about Whonix, please see the Overview and Features pages.

Figure: Whonix-Workstation Xfce VM in virtualizer VirtualBox (real screenshot)

See Also

• Whonix-Gateway
• Multiple Whonix-Workstation
• Whonix-Workstation Security
• Connections Between Whonix-Gateway and Whonix-Workstation
• Redirect Whonix-Workstation or Unix Domain Socket Files to Whonix-Gateway
• Whonix-Workstation Firewall
• Access Whonix-Workstation Ports from the Host

Footnotes

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