[tor-relays] questions about raspberry pi bridges

Greetings,

I’ve operated both relays and bridges for more than a decade but I’m new to the raspberry pi. I think it a real possibility for future bridge deployment en mass. I have several questions that I can’t seem to work through:

1.) The tor package I get from the repository is 0.4.2.7 (obsolete). I thought it was because the pi machine had raspian for the os. So, I downloaded and installed 32-bit ubuntu server 20.04.3 instead (https://ubuntu.com/downloads/raspberry-pi). It made no difference. I changed to a new SSD to make sure all was virgin. How do I upgrade to current version of Tor for this bridge?

2.) Some of my bridges have (and some do not have) /var/lib/tor/stats folders. I am interested in the ‘why’ of this and also how I can install that capability on all bridge relays. The stat printout is in units of ‘8’ and I’m sure the Russians, Egyptions, etc. do not use bridges in unit neat units. What am I reading in bridge-stats?

3.) Does Tor project state somewhere in it’s docs that it’s a terrible idea to give a bridge a nickname such as ‘TorCuba’? It should!!

potlatch

···

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Quoting potlatch via tor-relays (2022-02-22 04:26:27)

1.) The tor package I get from the repository is 0.4.2.7 (obsolete). I thought
it was because the pi machine had raspian for the os. So, I downloaded and
installed 32-bit ubuntu server 20.04.3 instead
(https://ubuntu.com/downloads/raspberry-pi). It made no difference. I changed
to a new SSD to make sure all was virgin. How do I upgrade to current version
of Tor for this bridge?

AFAIK raspbian bullseye has 0.4.5.10, are you sure you are using the latest
version of raspbian?

2.) Some of my bridges have (and some do not have) /var/lib/tor/stats folders. I am interested in the 'why' of this and also how I can install that capability on all bridge relays. The stat printout is in units of '8' and I'm sure the Russians, Egyptions, etc. do not use bridges in unit neat units. What am I reading in bridge-stats?

The stats folder is being generated automatically, if you don't have it I assume
your bridge is not being used. It might be because bridgedb does reserve some
bridges and don't distribute them.

The stats are multiple of 8 for privacy purposes, tor collects the information
of how many users use each relay but rounds them to 8 to don't leak exact
information. Those stats can be viewed searching for a relay in:
https://metrics.torproject.org/rs.html#search

3.) Does Tor project state somewhere in it's docs that it's a terrible idea to give a bridge a nickname such as 'TorCuba'? It should!!

Why do you think is a terrible idea?

···

--
meskio | https://meskio.net/
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My contact info: https://meskio.net/crypto.txt
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Note on Raspbian: The package repository does not offer 32-bit ARM
architecture (armhf) images. You should build Tor from source.

From "Why and how I can enable Tor Package Repository in Debian?" page[1]:

Verify your operating system is capable of running the binary by
inspecting the output of the following commend:

  # dpkg --print-architecture

It should output either amd64, arm64, or i386. The repository does not
support other CPU architectures.

For tor armhf package, please see this open issue:

But, if you're on a dynamic IP/residential connection and have a Raspberry
Pi, I would recommend running a Snowflake standalone proxy.

best,
Gus

[1] Why and how I can enable Tor Package Repository in Debian? | Tor Project | Support

···

On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 01:02:18PM +0100, meskio wrote:

Quoting potlatch via tor-relays (2022-02-22 04:26:27)
> 1.) The tor package I get from the repository is 0.4.2.7 (obsolete). I thought
> it was because the pi machine had raspian for the os. So, I downloaded and
> installed 32-bit ubuntu server 20.04.3 instead
> (https://ubuntu.com/downloads/raspberry-pi). It made no difference. I changed
> to a new SSD to make sure all was virgin. How do I upgrade to current version
> of Tor for this bridge?

AFAIK raspbian bullseye has 0.4.5.10, are you sure you are using the latest
version of raspbian?

--
The Tor Project
Community Team Lead

Quoting potlatch via tor-relays (2022-02-22 04:26:27)

1.) The tor package I get from the repository is 0.4.2.7 (obsolete). I thought
it was because the pi machine had raspian for the os. So, I downloaded and
installed 32-bit ubuntu server 20.04.3 instead
(https://ubuntu.com/downloads/raspberry-pi). It made no difference. I changed
to a new SSD to make sure all was virgin. How do I upgrade to current version
of Tor for this bridge?

AFAIK raspbian bullseye has 0.4.5.10, are you sure you are using the latest
version of raspbian?

If you have a pi3 or newer you can run debian 64bit (not raspbian) and just use the torporject repo.

But, if you're on a dynamic IP/residential connection and have a Raspberry
Pi, I would recommend running a Snowflake standalone proxy.

Why? If your ip doesn't change everyday you can run a stable relay with up to 4MB/s on a pi3.

···

On 22.02.22 14:16, gus wrote:

On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 01:02:18PM +0100, meskio wrote:

"users will need to ‘discover’ your bridge's IP address again, i.e., go
over the process of requesting a new bridge (by email, Moat or https).
On the other hand, Snowflake will discover your proxy new IP and
automatically share with them."

···

On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 03:00:41PM +0100, torrelay via tor-relays wrote:

On 22.02.22 14:16, gus wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 01:02:18PM +0100, meskio wrote:
> > Quoting potlatch via tor-relays (2022-02-22 04:26:27)
> > > 1.) The tor package I get from the repository is 0.4.2.7 (obsolete). I thought
> > > it was because the pi machine had raspian for the os. So, I downloaded and
> > > installed 32-bit ubuntu server 20.04.3 instead
> > > (https://ubuntu.com/downloads/raspberry-pi). It made no difference. I changed
> > > to a new SSD to make sure all was virgin. How do I upgrade to current version
> > > of Tor for this bridge?
> > AFAIK raspbian bullseye has 0.4.5.10, are you sure you are using the latest
> > version of raspbian?
> >
If you have a pi3 or newer you can run debian 64bit (not raspbian) and just
use the torporject repo.

> But, if you're on a dynamic IP/residential connection and have a Raspberry
> Pi, I would recommend running a Snowflake standalone proxy.
>
Why? If your ip doesn't change everyday you can run a stable relay with up
to 4MB/s on a pi3.

--
The Tor Project
Community Team Lead

To use a geographic i.d. or another identifying nickname can give the opposition a hint about your location. This could put users at risk--especially if there are few relays in a country suck as Venezuela. It might also prompt governments to purge suspected relays. Just worried!

···

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------- Original Message -------

On Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022 at 4:02 AM, meskio <meskio@torproject.org> wrote:

Quoting potlatch via tor-relays (2022-02-22 04:26:27)

> 1.) The tor package I get from the repository is 0.4.2.7 (obsolete). I thought
>
> it was because the pi machine had raspian for the os. So, I downloaded and
>
> installed 32-bit ubuntu server 20.04.3 instead
>
> (https://ubuntu.com/downloads/raspberry-pi). It made no difference. I changed
>
> to a new SSD to make sure all was virgin. How do I upgrade to current version
>
> of Tor for this bridge?

AFAIK raspbian bullseye has 0.4.5.10, are you sure you are using the latest

version of raspbian?

> 2.) Some of my bridges have (and some do not have) /var/lib/tor/stats folders. I am interested in the 'why' of this and also how I can install that capability on all bridge relays. The stat printout is in units of '8' and I'm sure the Russians, Egyptions, etc. do not use bridges in unit neat units. What am I reading in bridge-stats?

The stats folder is being generated automatically, if you don't have it I assume

your bridge is not being used. It might be because bridgedb does reserve some

bridges and don't distribute them.

The stats are multiple of 8 for privacy purposes, tor collects the information

of how many users use each relay but rounds them to 8 to don't leak exact

information. Those stats can be viewed searching for a relay in:

Relay Search

> 3.) Does Tor project state somewhere in it's docs that it's a terrible idea to give a bridge a nickname such as 'TorCuba'? It should!!

Why do you think is a terrible idea?

----------------------------------------

meskio | https://meskio.net/

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

My contact info: https://meskio.net/crypto.txt

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Nos vamos a Croatan.

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