Tor Relay Operator - Githubissues

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

Docs: Team: @bisq-network/tor-relay-operators Primary owner: @sqrrm

As discussed in https://github.com/bisq-network/proposals/issues/15#issue-313728412

The tor relay operator should keep a tor relay running with reasonable stats on https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search

To be eligible for compensation the operator should:

be a regular contributor to bisq
announce their intention to run relay nodes here
link to stats for node showing reasonable consensus weight

Installation

There are instructions on how to set up a relay at https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/TorRelayGuide and a tool to locally manage multiple relays at https://github.com/nusenu/ansible-relayor

Example

I followed the guide at https://medium.com/@nusenu/deploying-tor-relays-with-ansible-6612593fa34d Setting up relays on three VPSs with 2GB RAM (probably overkill) and 20GB SSD (definitely more than needed). The VPSs run ubuntu 16.04.

From the control machine which would typically not be running tor relays itself (my local laptop in my example)

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ansible/ansible
sudo apt update

// On control machine: (ubuntu 16.04 in my example)
apt install ansible tor python-netaddr

// If tor is not needed on the control machine
systemctl disable --now tor

// Add config files
sqrrm@sqrrm:~ $ cat ~/.ansible.cfg 
[defaults]
inventory = ~/ansible/hosts
roles_path = ~/ansible/roles

sqrrm@sqrrm:~ $ cat ~/ansible/hosts 
[relays]
relay2.sqrrm.net
relay3.sqrrm.net
relay4.sqrrm.net

// Install relayor
ansible-galaxy install nusenu.relayor

// Add role
sqrrm@sqrrm:~ $ cat ~/ansible/roles/sqrrm-relay.yml 
---

- hosts: relays
  remote_user: relay
  vars:
    tor_ContactInfo: sqrrm@tutanota.com
    tor_signingkeylifetime_days: 90
    tor_nickname: sqrrm
    tor_IPv6: False
  roles:
   - nusenu.relayor

// Install relays
ansible-playbook ~/ansible/roles/sqrrm-relay.yml --ask-sudo-pass

All relays should now be up and running, two per VPS.

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

I'm running https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/D4FBE51BC35C3921F31B6E561FD8C07BC56F9D71 which I will use as a baseline for what reasonable relay node stats would be. This setup costs about USD6 per month.

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

Using https://github.com/nusenu/ansible-relayor I have now setup 6 more relays on 3 VPSs, 2 per instance according to recommendations from the Tor relay guide.

I've tried this before but it didn't work properly but with the newest ansible-relayor it might be better. Hopefully this works as it seems like a much more solid way to manage relays.

ghost commented 6 years ago

Little technical question: I have seen some low-cost VPS, located in Asia, but there is a little lag. Little but however existent. I suppose this is a problem for using such VPS as a tor-relay ?

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

I think it's more important to spread the relays but maybe it's no good if there is too much lag. Typically the Tor community recommends spreading out the relays as much as possible and Africa in particular is under represented and I think Asia could also use more relays. If you're in the mood you should try it out and see if you get any usage.

ghost commented 6 years ago

In fact, I had a look 6 months or one year ago, but I read that the install was rather complicated (?), so I didn't try. But reading your posts here makes me rethink.

Here, from Europe, I experimented sure lag with a VPS in Asia (thru ssh). But maybe/probably for Asia/Asia usage, there is no lag (?).

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

@HarryMacfinned That's probably part of the lag at least. If you want to just setup a single relay to test follow the Tor Relay Guide. I added a link in the initial comment. It's not hard if you're already comfortable setting up your own linux VPS.

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

2018.07 report

They are all > 4MB/s now. The first one is running on its own server and has been running for several months, it's also used as guard. The other 6 are sharing a server for two instances and only started running for this month. I'm not sure why they're not yet used as guards, could be they're still too new.

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

2018.08 report

All relays have been running without any trouble, see https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

I think it's a good thing we support relay nodes considering how dependent bisq is on the tor network, would be good if some more people were to run them.

ManfredKarrer commented 6 years ago

@sqrrm Could you provide some info how to get a Tor relay node setup? System requirements, install scripts,...

alexej996 commented 6 years ago

@ManfredKarrer it is really simple to be honest. You just need to install Tor with "apt-get install tor", uncomment "RunAsDeamon 1" and "ORPort 9001" option in /etc/tor/torrc.

Those two are the only required options, but of course there are all kinds of nice little options under that "just for relays" section in torrc file. You can setup a DNS address so the relay isn't just known by the IP, you can setup a nickname for the node so you can recognize it by more then just a fingerprint. Adding contact info is also cool so they can contact you if something is wrong.

Only options that is concerning security is the "MyFamily" option where you list fingerprints of your other nodes. The rest is just some specifics if you want. For example uncommenting "DirPort" if you got decent bandwidth.

Personally I would love to run a relay on a VPS one day, as I like running them whenever I am in position to do so, at least a bridge if nothing else, but currently I am not is position to do so for Bisq. I am looking forward to it in future though.

sqrrm commented 6 years ago

2018.09 report

All relays have been running without any trouble at reasonable rates, see https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

Added installation instructions in issue description https://github.com/bisq-network/roles/issues/72#issue-337002653

clearwater-trust commented 5 years ago

I decided to run a couple of tor relays after reading this role and recent forum post https://bisq.community/t/how-to-deal-with-repeated-tor-problems/6334/

My goal is to better understand bisq, the dao, and how i might be able to help. This seems like a good place for me to start.

https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/038D03689EE87ADA0224ED0671C109506039A8B5 https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#details/615F7FAEF7F23DFAD24ECC5E09DADE221B37878D

The relays reside on digital ocean. tor specifically names this hosting provider as over-saturated :(

I'm expecting to see advertised bandwidth increase in 72 hours according to tor documentation.

Admittedly, low hanging fruit. But you have to start somewhere.

ManfredKarrer commented 5 years ago

@clearwater-trust Great thanks!

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

@clearwater-trust It might be low hanging fruit but you're the first to do it after the role was created, good initiative.

I noticed 188.166.21.247:9001 (clearwatertrustx2) has been down for a few days, in case you're not aware.

clearwater-trust commented 5 years ago

@sqrrm thanks for the heads up! I'm serving bisq.shop from the vps and probably need to run the relay elsewhere. I switched the relay off in the interim.

ManfredKarrer commented 5 years ago

@sqrrm It would be good if we communicate a bit more in our community as well it the Tor community that we support Tor relay nodes by paying BSQ.

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

2018.10 report

I have run 7 relays on 4 servers. All relays have been running without any trouble at reasonable rates, see https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

2018.11 report

I run 7 relays on 4 servers. This month there was an issue with upgrading to a new tor version. There was some trouble upgrading but all now looks good, see https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#173

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

2018.12 report

One of the relays (185.25.51.202) got a complaint and bacloud suspended the service. After explaining that I run a relay and it's possible whoever complained don't understand the activity they thought were port scans I got it unsuspended. It's not exactly clear what caused the complaint but others running relays have had similar issues when the complainer were running a tor client and not understanding the replies. I'm currently monitoring the ip that complained to see if there is any further activity.

Complaint:

To Whom it May Concern,

You have a system on your network that is actively scanning and/or attacking external sites on the Internet. This can come from many sources and because it is often difficult to detect this activity, we are sending this E-mail in an attempt to help you solve the problem.

We have detected your system with an IP of, 185.25.51.202, scanning a client we monitor. This was not a short attack but a prolonged scan and/or probe that was designed to find and intrude into the target network.

This may be someone on your network who is actively trying to hack others. This person may be a legitimate user on your network or it may be that this system has been compromised and is being used by someone to hack others. It is also likely that the system is running automated tools that have been installed to perform these actions without any human intervention.

Below is the information about the attack. Keep in mind that the source IP of our client has been sanitized for anonymity.

To conclude December, there was some work to sort this out but after I spoke with the support and restarted my services there hasn't been any more issues. I hope this was a one time thing but I suspect it will happen again, the question is how often. During the downtime my relays lost their guard status but are not mostly back. https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/190

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

2019.01 report

No issues this month, running 7 relays without trouble https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/213

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

2019.02 report

Still no issues or complaints, running 7 relays without trouble https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/228#issue-415543390

ManfredKarrer commented 5 years ago

Could you start a bit of a communication initiative that Bisq is supporting Tor by funding Tor relay operators inside the Bisq community? Most people don't know about that and I think it would be good to get around 10 releay operators and spend about 500 BSQ on that in total. If running 7 releays cost you 40 BSQ, we could support about 100 releays...

ghost commented 5 years ago

I'm not running a Tor relay myself atm, but I gave a little money in 2018 and 2019 to an association in my country which runs Tor relays. Good page: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/GoodBadISPs

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

2019.03 report

Some of the relays didn't upgrade version automatically so they became stale for a bit until the latest tor version was installed. No issues with the vps provider.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/253

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

Cycle 1 report

No issues with the relays this month.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/282

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

Cycle 2 report

No issues this month

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/293

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

Cycle 3 report

No issues this month

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

I encourage others to run some relay nodes. It's not hard, they're usually quite stable and it helps the tor network which Bisq relies on.

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/311

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

Cycle 4 report

One server has dropped out for tor relays, not sure why and have not had time to investigate.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#325

niyid commented 5 years ago

@sqrrm

Hi. How can we get a Monero node set up on one of yours to permit a remote node setup?

This is in relation to https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/issues/1863

ghost commented 5 years ago

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that there is no need to be a Tor relay in order to host a remote monero node. There is some doc about how to run a monero node over Tor. I'll retrieve the links.

niyid commented 5 years ago

Ah, OK. Thanks.

On Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 13:18 Harry MacFinned notifications@github.com wrote:

I may be wrong, but my understanding is that there is no need to be a Tor relay in order to host a remote monero node. There is some doc about how to run a monero node over Tor. I'll retrieve the links.

— You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/bisq-network/roles/issues/72?email_source=notifications&email_token=AE2MWR7W6RGKXQ2SYVY4J3TQFUXAPA5CNFSM4FHUE652YY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOD4ZOYCA#issuecomment-523430920, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AE2MWR3L6N6GC7ZCJJSGS4TQFUXAPANCNFSM4FHUE65Q .

sqrrm commented 5 years ago

Cycle 5 report

The dropped server is still dropped, don't know why it's not accepted.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/356

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 6 report

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/375

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 7 report

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/403

devinbileck commented 4 years ago

I have just setup 8 relays. A few haven't been measured yet, but should be given time. I will see how this goes. https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/family:5736FF4F78744BFDEA024122C1180638884F4BD6

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 8 report

More nodes down. Don't know why they're not good anymore, needs investigation. Only 3 left measured by torproject.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#441

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 9 report

Only 3 nodes left. I still have two servers running that for some reason they're not counted by the tor network.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#461

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 10 report

Up to 5 nodes again, managed to restore one of the servers.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#488

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 12 report

Down to 4 nodes, one node got unhappy for some reason. Should be possible to get back up

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/536

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 13 report

The 4 nodes are no longer visible on the metrics. Not sure if temporary or something else.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#564

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 14 report

The 4 nodes have been visible lately, probably an issue with the metrics last cycle.

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#597

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 15 report

4 nodes running

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/623

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 16 report

4 nodes running

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#646

sqrrm commented 4 years ago

Cycle 17 report

4 nodes running

Metrics at https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

bisq-network/compensation#667

sqrrm commented 3 years ago

Cycle 18 report

4 nodes running. Managed to move Nuseno's ansible script to a new localhost and it works, seems nodes are happy, https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search/sqrrm

https://github.com/bisq-network/compensation/issues/693

sqrrm commented 3 years ago