Title: Setting Up Tor Hidden Services For The First Time On Ubuntu Server

Tor (The onion router) is a system that enables people to access the internet anonymously. It works by encrypting your traffic and routing it through multiple servers, making it difficult for anyone to track you online. One of the coolest features of Tor is its ability to host hidden services - websites or other types of content accessible only via the Tor network. In this blog post, we'll walk you through setting up a tor hidden service on Ubuntu server for the first time

Prerequisites:

  1. A working installation of Ubuntu Server with sudo privileges 2. Familiarity with Linux command line basics and configuration files - you can learn more about this in our other blog posts! (link to them here).

    Steps:

  2. Install Tor Package On your Ubuntu Server using these commands sudo apt update && sudo apt install tor
  3. Configure Your Hidden Service by creating a hidden service configuration file and adding the following content at /etc/tor/hiddenservices/myservice. This should look something like this:
# A sample Tor onion service config for an Apache web server running on port 80.
## First, we define some general options that apply to all hidden services run by the same tor instance (i.e., they're not per-service): 

HiddenServiceDir /var/lib/tor/hidden_service/myservice # This is where you tell Tor where your private key files are stored; it must be writable only by root!  Also, note that we use a subdirectory under /var/lib/tor here. If you want multiple hidden services on one system (which isn't recommended), then each should go in its own separate directory inside `HiddenServiceDir`.

HiddenServicePort 80 # This tells Tor which port number to bind your service too - remember, this has nothing do with what ports Apache listens for incoming connections from clients! In fact, if you want more than one onion address pointing at different websites hosted by the same instance of apache running locally then simply add additional lines like:
    HiddenServicePort 443 # etc...etc.

2) Start Your Tor Service sudo systemctl start tor If everything went well, you should see output similar too :- [info] Reading config file [warning] You have not set a configuration file path; using '/usr/local/etc/torrc' as the default. See 'man tor' for more information about configuring Tor services in general and this particular service specifically 3) Verify That Your Hidden Service Is Working Correctly curl -s http://localhost:80 | grep "250 OK" If everything worked correctly you should see output similar too :- <html><body>Hello World!</body></html> 250 OK 4) Add Your Hidden Service To The Tor Directory curl -s http://localhost:80/ | grep "ServiceID" If everything worked correctly you should see output similar too :- <service id="myservice"> <version>1</version><address>http://example.onion 5) Congratulations! You've successfully set up a tor hidden service on Ubuntu Server and can now access it using its unique .onion address

Conclusion:

Setting Up Tor Hidden Services For The First Time On Ubuntu Server is an easy process once you have all the prerequisites in place. By following these steps, you'll be able to create a hidden service that only people connected through tor can access. This will provide more privacy and security for both users of your website or application as well those who are trying gain unauthorized entry into them!